Manchester City have now completed their pre-season period and are set to kick off their latest Premier League campaign this weekend.
In addition to having a pre-season tour of America where they played friendly matches against Celtic, AC Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea, Pep Guardiola’s side beat Manchester United in last weekend’s Community Shield.
Concerning matters off the pitch, the Blues have seen several players make moves in and out of the Etihad Stadium, which could continue until the window closes at the end of the month.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s opening league fixture against Chelsea, a pundit has shared his concern over one particular thing that has transpired at the Manchester club in recent weeks.
- Key Man City dates for the 2024/25 season: Transfer window, deadline day, Premier League fixture release, start date and more
Paul Merson claims Julian Alvarez’s departure could be a problem for Man City
While previewing this weekend’s opening Premier League game against Chelsea in a recent column for Sportskeeda, Paul Merson had this to say about City recently selling Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for £81m (via BBC Sport).
He said: “Manchester City had to take the money for Julian Alvarez, but it could come back to bite them. Alvarez did his job quietly and was a very good squad player.”
City will need to find a way to replace Alvarez
City paid £14m to sign the Argentine from River Plate back in 2022 before seeing him score 36 goals and deliver 18 assists in 103 appearances across the past two seasons.
Last season saw the 24-year-old, who Guardiola revealed earlier this month had told him he wants a new challenge, feature in 54 games in all competitions, finding the back of the net 19 times and supplying 13 assists.
In addition to his goal contributions, Alvarez showed his versatility by playing in numerous positions for the Citizens, further highlighting how useful he was for Guardiola and why Merson thinks he was a very good squad player for the Blues.
With Merson also claiming that Alvarez’s departure could end up being a problem for City, the club should be using the remaining days of the summer transfer window to identify and bring in a suitable replacement.
