Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said Julian Alvarez will decide on a potential transfer away from the club after remarks by the Argentina striker that he wants to play in “important games” and will “think about what I want for myself”.
Only top scorer Erling Haaland and playmaker Bernardo Silva played more minutes than Alvarez last season among City’s attackers, but the 24-year-old appears to be frustrated at his exclusion from the starting line-up in the Uefa Champions League quarter-finals against Real Madrid, FA Cup final against Manchester United and Premier League run-in.
“He played a lot,” Guardiola said, speaking on City’s US tour. “If he wants more, it’s fine. That’s why [he should] think about it.
“I don’t think about replacing [him] but I knew that he said that he’s going to think about it. And when he has [had a] think about it, he will inform us.”
🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️ pic.twitter.com/CkNJHQdkYh
— Manchester City (@ManCityPT) November 2, 2022
📰 Table Of Contents
Alvarez: Argentina striker to ‘take time’
Guardiola added that he expected Alvarez’s representatives to call City director of football Txiki Begiristain with Alvarez’s decision.
“Last season I was one of the players with the most minutes at City,” acknowledged Alvarez, via Ole, speaking at the Olympic Games, where he is in action with his country.
“In the end, you don’t like to be left out of important games. You want to contribute. I will take my time to think about what I want for myself.”
Alvarez, who signed a one-year contract extension in March 2023 to keep him at City until 2028, has helped Argentina win the 2024 Copa America this summer and is likely to feature in his third match of the Paris Games when they face Ukraine in Lyon on Tuesday.
“I told [City] I wanted to be [at the Olympics],” he said, explaining that the club “wanted to prioritise rest”. “I fought for it and I’m happy. I understand the club [perspective] because we played a lot of games.”
He has a plan 🫡 pic.twitter.com/N8yMjHfaOu
— Selección Argentina in English (@AFASeleccionEN) July 29, 2024
Julian Alvarez stats
City signed Alvarez for 17 million euros (£14.1m) in January 2022 from Argentine side River Plate, where he remained on loan initially, making his Cityzens debut in July 2022.
He produced 17 goals and five assists in 49 appearances for City in his first campaign. In his second, Alvarez scored 19 times and set up 13 goals.
Alvarez was almost ever-present for City in the league in 2023/24 until mid-February but started only two of their 10 Champions League matches, playing 33 minutes in total across the two legs against Madrid.
Having played only 17 minutes across their previous three Premier League games – scoring twice – Alvarez was an unused substitute when City clinched the title on the final day of the season against West Ham United.
The 2021 South American Footballer of the Year was not directly involved in any FA Cup goals after the third round of City’s campaign and played for 34 minutes in their surprise 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the final.
City want 70 million euros (£59m) for Alvarez this summer and performance-related bonuses and add-ons worth a further 20m euros (£16.8m), according to City Xtra.
