Pep Guardiola yesterday candidly admitted that Manchester City may have made a 'mistake' in selling young Argentine striker Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid.
The rise of superstar Erling Haaland at City since joining the club two years ago has largely relegated Alvarez to the bench, where he often finds himself in the biggest games.
Scoring 36 goals in just 103 appearances, along with winning the World Cup and Copa America during his time at City, has made Julian Alvarez a top target for many of Europe's top clubs.
Guardiola was keen to keep the 24-year-old as back-up to Haaland, but Alvarez's ambitions for regular playing time finally came to a head when Atletico struck a deal with the Premier League champions.
The La Liga club splashed out £81m on Alvarez as Man City allowed one of their top rising talents to leave, with Guardiola now publicly pondering whether it was the best decision.
Speaking ahead of City's trip to Brentford, Guardiola said: "I'm happy with the squad. We didn't expect Julian to leave, although he had long conversations with other clubs and his agent, so it could happen and it happened.
“We have seen what we have, if we had many, many injuries it would be a problem, but in a few months Oscar Bobb will be back (from injury) and Phil (Foden) will be in that position, McAtee can play in that position, Gundogan can play in that position, Bernardo…
“Of course they are different players to Erling. Maybe it was a mistake (to let Alvarez go), I don’t know but I don’t like to keep players out of the game for a long time. When everyone is involved in the game, the performance of the teams is always better.
“I know how serious and professional this group of players are and how committed they are to every game. We were pretty sure it was better to wait (for the opportunity to add a striker).”
Man City have yet to sign a direct replacement for Alvarez as Brazilian striker Savinho has joined but prefers to play on the wing rather than as a centre-forward.
That leaves Guardiola with Haaland as the only recognised striker at Man City, meaning the Spaniard will have to play one of his stars out of position or turn to the academy to find a back-up for Haaland.
Meanwhile, Alvarez has yet to score his first goal for Atletico Madrid in the club's start to the new La Liga season.
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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/pep-cong-khai-thua-nhan-man-city-da-sai-lam-khi-ban-julian-alvarez-post756682.html
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