Julian Alvarez It was decided: he would play Atletico Madrid They will leave Manchester City For a record sum, he's betting more minutes at a club he loves than he did with Guardiola at the Citizens, He shared a strange and much talked about relationship.
Pep Guardiola appeared in the press room ahead of the Community Shield match against Manchester United and confirmed the departure of Julian Alvarez to Atletico. “I learned a lot from him and hope to find what I'm looking for”.
“First of all, I want to express my gratitude to Julian. We have won everything and his contribution has been enormous. The team loved him very much for his behavior, but if he wants to leave, if he wants to face a new challenge, there is no problem. “I learned a lot from him and hope he finds what he's looking for.”
And he added:I don't know why, but he said he wanted a new challenge, something he felt he had to do. He played a lot with Erling last season, but I understand that he didn't play at times.. I told the club many times that ultimately the company will make the final decision, but I told them, if you're not happy, why should you be here? He believes his time should end here, so it doesn't matter, the two clubs reached an agreement and that's it.“.
Likewise, Pep promised “Both teams are happy with the deal“Financial and he wished the best to the 24-year-old, he thanked him for his time at City, he has been with a team since the beginning of 2022 and can find out what he is at Atletico de Madrid. Looking.”
Guardiola spoke about a potential replacement for Julian Alvarez: “I don't know yet, we'll talk everyday and see what happens. It may or may not happen. We will see“.
How much did Julian Alvarez play for City? numbers
In May 2023, Alvarez became the youngest Argentine player to score in a Champions League semi-final after scoring a goal against Real Madrid; He is also the first Argentine player to win the FIFA World Cup, Copa America, Copa Libertadores, Champions League and Club World Cup.
Since his arrival in July 2022, Julian Alvarez has played 6,001 minutes in a Manchester City shirt. Although he was always a permanent replacement for Guardiola, the irritation came from the 'quality' of the minutes he played.
In cold numbers, the Spider was more active in his second season at the club. But when it comes down to it, you can see the coach's preference for Holland. That's where his dissent manifests itself, as he expressed in his statement at the Olympic Games.
In the UEFA Champions League, for example, Alvarez played just 3 minutes in the entire quarter-final between City and Real Madrid, in which his side would go on penalties. The forward stepped in to kick a penalty (which he converted in the series) in the 3' at the Bernabeu and in the 90' in England. But there was more activity in the smaller games Like the second leg against Copenhagen in the round of 16, where he played 90' and his team already put the series 3-1 in the first leg or the group stage against Red Star Belgrade (90). ').
For the premiere, he added a lot of minutes, but he was one of the first changes that came out. He was the starter 31 times out of 36 and entered the other five. But he had to leave 16 times to make way for someone else, so he finished only 8 games. Two that he did not enter directly.
