CROWN JUL

LONDON. – Manchester City’s title bid is being derailed by the absence of a key player from last season.

And we’re not talking about injured midfield lynchpin and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.

Because although the Spain midfielder was undeniably crucial to the triumphs of his club and country, Julian Alvarez was front and centre (and sometimes wide) in Pep Guardiola’s side in 2023/4.

And selling Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for a massive profit in the summer is no longer looking like quite as good a deal for City.

It was not only the Argentinian World Cup winner’s 11 goals and nine assists in 36 PL appearances that was important to City.

Nor was Alvarez just a useful replacement for Erling Halaand and Kevin de Bruyne when they were injured.

The versatile star also gave Guardiola the freedom to rotate his attacking options during or between games, keeping them out of the “red” zone and giving them the chance to perform at their peak more often.

But Alvarez wanted to be the main man, playing regularly in a No 10 or No 9 role. That was not going to happen any time soon, so when Atletico offered him the chance to swap Manchester, where he had never really settled, for Madrid, he wanted the move.

And City regarded as good business a fee of up to £81.5m for a wantaway player who cost an initial £14m in 2022.

Yet Guardiola knew at the time that the sale of Alvarez could come back to bite his team, admitting “if we have many, many injuries it will be a problem”. – The Sun

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