Pep Guardiola has seen many players leave his Manchester City side during his time at the club.
Having been in charge of the Blues since 2016, Guardiola has seen the club sell a wide variety of players during previous transfer windows.
In the final month of the current summer window, City will reportedly be waving goodbye to Julian Alvarez, who Atletico Madrid have reportedly agreed a deal worth €95m (£81m) to sign.
In fact, the Argentine will apparently be having his medical at the Spanish club on Monday.
Ahead of Saturday’s Community Shield clash against Manchester United, the City boss has shed some light on Alvarez’s imminent exit and revealed what has been said between the pair.
- Who is Julian Alvarez? The story of the striker who won it all at Man City before joining Atletico Madrid
Pep Guardiola shares what Julian Alvarez said to him prior to Atletico Madrid agreement
When asked about Alvarez’s reported deal with Atletico, Guardiola had this to say on the matter in a recent press conference.
“First of all I want to say my gratitude for Julian, we won everything, his contribution has been massive.
“He was incredibly loved by the team for his behaviour but if he wants to leave, a new challenge — Atletico is a top club — then if you want to leave it’s OK.
“We wish him the best. I learned a lot from him, hopefully, he can find what he was looking for.
“I don’t know the reason why [he wanted to leave], he said to me he wants a new challenge, he feels it’s what he needs to do.
“Last season he played a lot, at some moments with Erling [Haaland], but I understand in certain moments he didn’t play.
“I said to the club many times, at the end, the club has the end decision but I say that contracts can be broken, if you are not happy why should you be here?
“He believes his period here must be over so OK, both clubs arrived at an agreement and that’s all.”
Alvarez will get his new challenge at Atletico
In two seasons at City, Alvarez has appeared in 103 games across all competitions, 62 of which he started.
Having found the back of the net 36 times and delivered 18 assists for the Blues, it’s easy to see why Guardiola has such admiration for the Argentine and how much recognition he has for his contribution to the team.
Moving forward, everyone at City will undoubtedly be hoping that the World Cup winner can make the most of his new challenge in Spain and that he won’t end up being too big of a miss for them.
