Barcelona? Man Utd? Did Alvarez make a mistake choosing Man City?

Karan Tejwani

• 18 Feb 2023 18:45 GMT
• 4 min read

Julian Alvarez has incredible potential but hasn’t had the most chances to show that in his first season at Manchester City.

The Argentine forward moved to the reigning Premier League champions in the summer from River Plate and has done well in the time afforded to him, but has generally been second choice to Erling Haaland.

While there is a chance he becomes the main man in the future - possibly after Haaland’s departure - there’s a case to be made that he could already be showing his best talents in a more starting role elsewhere.

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The question has to be asked: did Alvarez make the right choice in choosing Manchester City over the likes of Barcelona and Manchester United?

Would Alvarez have been better off elsewhere?

In January 2022, plenty of clubs were circling around Alvarez but it was City that agreed a deal first, beating off competition from many.

While Alvarez is backed to become a big name in the future, the present is Haaland, and perhaps that doesn’t work in his favour.

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Alvarez has only played three full 90s in the Premier League this season, including four minutes in his most recent match against Nottingham Forest, where City were wasteful in a 1-1 draw.

Since the World Cup, he spent entire matches on the bench in crucial games against Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in the league.

While Pep Guardiola has been more generous in the cups, especially in the Champions League where he has played four full matches, it’s unexpected that will carry on in the knockout rounds.

Alvarez showed at the World Cup that he is capable of being first choice: he replaced the out-of-form Lautaro Martinez and scored four in the tournament, including two in the semi-final, and linked up well with more experienced attackers like Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria.

Other clubs could well have given Alvarez more of a chance to show that regularly: Manchester United need a forward, as do Chelsea and maybe Barcelona wouldn’t have moved for Robert Lewandowski had they agreed a deal for the Argentine.

Guardiola has been known to be patient with young talents: Phil Foden is a prime example, but for Alvarez, who has a much bigger reputation than the Englishman when he was starting off, it could well be argued that his talents are wasting away by regularly being on the bench.

It could be the case that he is being built to take over after Haaland’s departure, whenever that may be, but that may be too far away.

Surely, his supporters and possibly he must be asking the question: would he have been better off elsewhere?