Did Pep Guardiola's Manchester City make 'mistake' by selling Julian Alvarez?

The Argentine is in red-hot form for Atletico Madrid.

The loss of Manchester City’s standout player Rodri, who had an ACL injury, for the rest of the season, has been attributed to the team’s precipitous slump in performance.

However, there are other problems that have also contributed to Manchester City’s recent struggle to win matches. They have managed to win one in ten matches. Now their next hurdle are arch-rivals Manchester United.

The most talked about has been the exit of Cole Palmer, who has become a household player at Chelsea and remains an influential player. But another star whose exit from Etihad has also affected Pep Guardiola’s side is Julian Alvarez.

Even City boss Pep Guardiola admitted “it could be a problem” if his squad picked up injuries. Now City are left with just one striker in the team, who is also struggling to find the back of the net.

Meanwhile, the Argentine is enjoying a prolific time in Spain following his £81m move to Atletico Madrid. The 24-year-old netted his 12th goal in all competitions to help Atletico beat Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League.

Julian Alvarez now preferred striker for Diego Simeone’s team

Julian Alvarez wanted more game time at City. He knew it was never going to be possible given Haaland was always ahead of him. This led to the former River Plate striker seeking a move away to a club where he could become a starter.

Atletico came knocking and signed the Argentine for a big fee. Although Alvarez struggled in a few matches to find the back of the net after his first goal for the Spanish club he has not looked back. He has produced 12 goals and two assists in 24 appearances helping Atletico to third in LaLiga, just three points off leaders Barcelona, and 11th in the Champions League standings.

Meanwhile, Guardiola’s side have just won once in the previous ten matches. Other star players such as Phil Foden, Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku have struggled to influence the games.

Haaland, though has scored four goals in those ten matches but has been nowhere seen to be in the big games. Against Juventus, he once again disappeared and remained toothless in front of the net.

On the contrary, Alvarez has been involved in 12 goals in as many Champions League starts – scoring nine and assisting three. To bring this into context it took Lionel Messi 24 appearances to reach 12 goals in the same competition.

This also means, that of players who have featured 1,000+ minutes in the tournament history, only Haaland, who boasts 78, has a better minutes per goal or assist ratio than Alvarez’s 98.

Alvarez made a wise decision to leave City to finally reach his full potential. But his departure has left a great dent in the Premier League club’s squad and now they are certainly struggling without him.

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