Julian Alvarez was rightly considered as one of the players who could usher Manchester City into continued success due to his natural talent and age.
Rodri made such a claim about Alvarez in February this year.
However, things change quickly in football and it was reported by Fabrizio Romano on Sunday that Manchester City are prepared to let Alvarez leave in the summer if he decides to depart the club — adding that Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have enquired about his availability since June.
Furthermore, it has been claimed that it is “very likely” Alvarez will not be a City player in the 2024/2025 season — despite only playing two full seasons at the club.
At one point, it seemed like the Sky Blues’ future was in good hands — due to how much players like Alvarez, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Rico Lewis could develop once they hit the prime of their careers.
But apart from Atletico Madrid and PSG, it has been reported on Monday that Juventus also wish to sign the Manchester City striker.
Having registered 33 goals and 17 assists in 98 appearances for City across all competitions, the reported interest in the World Cup winner’s services is understandable.
However, if Alvarez leaves Pep Guardiola’s side in the summer, they should not sign a direct replacement for him.
- Who is Julian Alvarez? The story of the striker who won it all at Man City before joining Atletico Madrid
Man City should sign a midfielder if their star striker leaves
Instead, Manchester City should explore other options.
One of them would be to invest in the arrival of a multifaceted midfielder in the event that Alvarez’s sale is confirmed.
The midfielder in question should ideally be to able to perform a few functions on the pitch to be deemed as a potentially successful capture.
Firstly, even if the name in question is a natural number eight, they should be able to deputise for Rodri — who Phil Foden described as Manchester City’s “most important player.”
None of Manchester City’s current midfield options have the defensive nous or engine to replace the Spaniard — who will be entering next season having started 53 games for club and country last season.
Unlike Rodri, no other midfielder who usually plays as one of the pair in a double pivot possesses an expansive passing range, namely, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes.
Kovacic and Bernardo are capable of breaking the lines and switching play with a long pass from time to time.
The aforementioned pair could also connect defence to midfield and midfield to attack by receiving the ball in tight spaces and passing the ball to their teammates while successfully beating the press due to their quick feet and ability to dribble past opponents.
But Rodri is perhaps the only midfielder in the squad, much like Ilkay Gundogan, during his time at City who is able to every pass in the book and dictating the game as the deepest player in midfield.
Speaking of Gundogan, if the midfielder in question can also contribute with goals and assists in the final third, the signing of such a player over a striker to replace Alvarez would be far more beneficial to this Sky Blues side.
Man City should revert to a false nine system if Julian Alvarez leaves
Furthermore, Manchester City have in-house solutions in case the Argentine leaves the club.
In the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 seasons, City deployed a system revolving around a false nine due to the lack of a world-class successor to Sergio Aguero’s throne before Erling Haaland’s arrival; a solution that is still viable when assessing their current roster of players.
During the 2020/2021 season, Bernardo Silva often played in the unfamiliar role, expertly freeing up space for the likes of Gundogan and Foden to score goals.
In the following campaign, Foden was often deployed in the role, as De Bruyne enjoyed his finest goalscoring season in the Premier League as he registered an impressive 15 goals.
Both players remain capable of playing in such a role due to their past experiences, thorough understanding of Pep Guardiola’s system and comfortability in possession across the entire pitch.
Oscar Bobb is another player who has been trialed in the position in the past, whether that during Manchester City’s 3-2 win against Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League last season or during their recent defeat to Barcelona in pre-season.
The Norwegian’s technical brilliance, tactical adaptability and comfortability in exploring central areas due to being a natural midfielder has meant he has looked like a potentially exciting option in the role as well.
With a midfielder being a bigger priority for Manchester City in the transfer market coupled with the profiles at their disposal who could deputise as makeshift strikers, the club should not be too worried about scoring for a number nine in case Alvarez is ready to bid farewell to the Premier League winners.
