Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez is closing in on an exit from the club, with Atletico Madrid poised to sign the star.
After spending the whole summer playing international football, it now looks as though Alvarez will not be returning to the CFA to rejoin his teammates.
It has been reported that a deal has been struck between City and Atleti that will see City smash their player sale record.
Naturally, there are now conversations taking place on social media about how Pep Guardiola will react to this particular player departure.
It is not ideal that he is leaving with less than a month to go in the transfer window. Should he depart as is now expected, then Pep will have Erling Haaland as his only striker.
- Who is Julian Alvarez? The story of the striker who won it all at Man City before joining Atletico Madrid
After signing Savinho, Pep did then say that more players would only be coming in if there were departures first – and it looks like Alvarez to Atleti is as good as done.
So how does the manager replace him? Manchester City News has picked out three players who could be up to the job.
Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)
It was reported yesterday, before the big development, that Joao Felix could be offered to City as part of the Alvarez deal.
It does not look like that will happen now. But one does wonder if he could actually be quite a good addition for City. Certainly from a convenience standpoint, it could be good.
Felix has arguably not lived up to his billing since leaving Benfica for Atletico in one of the most expensive transfer deals of all time back in 2019.
He’s had loan spells at Barcelona and Chelsea, but never really hit the heights expected.
But perhaps he is in need of a manager like Guardiola to get the best out of him. Felix, despite not living up to his billing, has still scored 34 goals and made 18 assists in 134 appearances for Atleti, which is only a slightly worse record than Alvarez’s at City (36 goals and 18 assists in 103 appearances).
He also scored 10 and made six assists in 44 appearances for Barcelona last term.
His versatility, which allows him to play anywhere in attack and just behind a main striker, could make him appealing, so maybe City should not discount looking into doing a separate deal with Atleti.
Oscar Bobb (Manchester City)
Pep may wish to find a solution internally to the sale of Alvarez – and Oscar Bobb could be someone up to the job.
The youngster has been outstanding in pre-season, seemingly relishing key players being away.
He looks like he is ready to step up this season and have a greater role. And the departure of Alvarez is something that could pave the way for him.
City fans have seen him play mainly off the right since he came into the first-team squad.
But Pep is always talking about how good Bobb is in the pockets and in central positions, and he is no stranger to playing as a striker. The Athletic quoted Pep as saying about Bobb at the start of this year: “He can play striker, right wing, left, in the pockets.”
Given Savinho has just signed, meaning a new option to play in the right, the stars may well align for Bobb – whom Pep branded ‘electric’ during the US tour – to replace Alvarez.
Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig)
City have been strongly linked with Dani Olmo this summer and the sale of Alvarez may now spark the club into action.
He is more of an attacking midfielder than a striker, although according to Transfermarkt he has had a few stints playing right up top.
But Alvarez spent a lot of time playing in the position that Olmo plays, so positionally there could be potential for him to come in as a replacement.
And Olmo would be able to cover the final third output of Alvarez, having scored 29 goals and made 34 assists in 148 games for Leipzig. Those are pretty decent numbers for an attacking midfielder.
It has been reported that some officials at City have reservations about his injury record, which is far from perfect. But there were similar concerns about Erling Haaland before he arrived, and he has racked up 98 games in his first two seasons. Clearly, the City medical team is very good.
Olmo is thought to have agreed terms with Barcelona. But there’s no agreement on a fee between them and RB Leipzig, which may present a hijack opportunity for City.
