Julián Álvarez, relegated to Manchester City: from number 9 of the world champions to eternal substitute with Guardiola

On July 29, 2022, in the middle of the preseason of the Manchester City and a few days after playing the Community Shield against Liverpool, he spoke to journalist Miguel Simón Pep Guardiola on SportsCenter and asked her about it Giuliano Alvarez, who had just arrived in England.

“We made a mistake with him. He’s a team player. He has a goal, he has the goal between his eyebrows. He’s an extraordinary signing. We will take advantage of the work of (Marcelo) Gallardo and hopefully we can add something to his game. We want him to be well, he has already adapted “, he said and all the Argentines expected to see so many minutes of the ex River In the Premier League, although in front of him he had some kind of offensive beast Erling Haaland.

“If we play with a more closed endgame, I see him complementing Haaland. If we play with an open endgame, not so much,”He added of that dispute with the Norwegian, which came having scored 86 goals in 89 games for the Borussia Dortmund and who has already spent 32 of 32 with City.

The first few months proved Pep right. After a brief period of adaptation to the competition, during the month of October Julián added minutes in the eight games he has played since citizens and in three of them he was part of the starting eleven. He started as owner in the 5-0 vs. Copenhagen of Champions League, scoring the fifth goal, and in goalless draws against the Danish side in the second leg and against Borussia Dortmund in Germany.

In any case, there was little of the Argentine and the Norwegian together on the pitch. During that time they shared a team in just 135 minutes, which is equivalent to one and a half games. Mostly it was one or the other. The goals of Android have been imposed, but equally the Spider he continued to have his chances and he took advantage of them. He had three consecutive games scoring in November (Sevilla, Fulham and Chelsea).

Meanwhile, Guardiola continued to praise him whenever he had to talk about him. “He’s a competitively different player”Pepe said. And he even compared him to Messi: “He had to win the World Cup to perhaps receive the credit or the place he deserves”.

Yes before the World Cup Giuliano Alvarez was adding a significant number of minutes in the shirt Manchester City, it was expected that on his return from Qatar he would have even more continuity. Is that he was one of the figures of the world champion, fully fulfilling the enormous responsibility to replace a Lautaro Martinez that has been physically touched. He scored four goals, a figure they just surpassed kylian mbappe (8) and Lionel Messi (7), neither more nor less, and was vital to the consecration.

However, upon returning to England he lost ground. He completed 90 minutes in 4 of the 13 matches his side played in 2023 and in just three other matches played over half an hour. This Wednesday, in the long-awaited round of 16 crossover of Champions League in front of Leipzig, the most notable so far this year, went to the bank and not entered for a single minute.

It is striking that the starting attacker of the world champion team has so little continuity, even if on the other hand it is understandable given that his competitor for the position is a forward called to mark an era like Haaland and who earns his place on the base to goals and more goals.

Moreover, Lautaro Martinez He is a figure, captain and top scorer Inter and seems to be starting to recover the lost place in the World Cup. In this context, Julian needs to play: what should you do with your future? Will he be able to earn a place in City’s starting team or will he remain forever in the Norwegian’s shadow and perhaps the best option is to seek new directions for his career?

Julian’s numbers at City

• 28 games played: 12 as starter and 16 as substitute.
• Completed the 90 minutes 10 times.
• He converted 9 goals and gave 2 assists.
• No titles.