Manchester City have a track record when it comes to selling some of their players for big transfer fees.
For example, recent years have seen City cash in on the likes of Cole Palmer, Riyad Mahrez, Joao Cancelo, Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus among others.
However, the Manchester side made their most significant sale during the previous summer transfer window as they sold Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for a club-record sale fee of £81m (via BBC Sport).
After completing two seasons at the Etihad Stadium, during which he scored 36 goals, delivered 18 assists and won multiple trophies in 103 games across all competitions for Pep Guardiola’s side, the Argentine made his move to Madrid to start a new chapter in his career.
With the latest international break now underway, this has presented the opportunity to reflect on how Alvarez has fared in Diego Simeone’s side so far.
- Who is Julian Alvarez? The story of the striker who won it all at Man City before joining Atletico Madrid
How has Julian Alvarez started his debut season at Atletico Madrid?
Having appeared in all nine of Atletico’s La Liga games, Alvarez has started six of them and bagged three goals.
Then in the Champions League, the striker has started both of their European matches against RB Leipzig and Benfica but was subbed off in the second half of each game.
Across his La Liga appearances, the 24-year-old may only have the third-highest number of attempts at goal (14) in the Atletico squad but has the joint-highest total of shots on target (6).
Despite that, Alvarez’s overall league performances have earned him a rather underwhelming season rating of 6.57/10 from WhoScored, leaving only three players in Simeone’s squad who have started more than one match with lower ratings than him.
What has Guardiola said about Alvarez leaving City?
Shortly after the deal between the Citizens and Atletico was reported, Guardiola said that Alvarez had told him that he wanted to leave City so he could pursue a new challenge elsewhere.
Even though the former City star has been playing regularly and scored a few goals for his new side, his performances in the league so far suggest that he has some improvement to make if he wants to warrant the significant transfer fee the Spanish club paid for him.
From City’s point of view, the fact that they have scored more goals (17) than any other side in the Premier League so far this season with seven matches played, it can’t be said that they have missed Alvarez in their hunt to win a fifth consecutive Premier League trophy.
