Manchester City Look To Bring In This River Plate Star: How Will He Line Up In Pep Guardiola’s Frontline?

From recent reports, Sports Illustrated have confirmed that the River Plate Star forward Julian Alvarez will be joining Manchester City in July.

The Sky Blues had already secured his signature in the January Transfer window. Guardiola and his team after having announced Haaland’s arrival are now set to pay the additional fees to bring in Alvarez to Etihad ahead of the next season.

Alvarez’s Astounding Campaign At River Plate This Season

The forward who has already been capped for Argentina has had a solid campaign at River Plate scoring 32 goals and creating 6 assists over 39 appearances this season.

He has proved to be a deadly striker averaging 3.1 shots, 2.1 key passes, and 2.1 dribbles while contributing defensively with 1.0 tackles per 90 mins in the Liga Profesional. However, he remains decent in distributing the ball making 73.2% of his attempted passes in the Argentine top-flight football (stats via whoscored).

How Will Alvarez Line Up With Haaland In Guardiola’s Starting XI?

Alvarez is primarily a centre forward but he can virtually play anywhere in the final third being extremely versatile on the pitch. The star forward has proven to be an offensive threat as he can make a few decent runs behind the opposition and create some clear cut goal scoring chances in front of the goal. He deserves credit for setting up his teammates with key passes penetrating through the opposition’s backline.

On the other hand, Haaland remains a goal-scoring machine and Guardiola would immediately make use of the Norwegian striker’s skill set in his starting Xi. With Julian Alvarez’s arrival at the Etihad, the Spanish tactician could opt for a two-man striking partnership, deviating from his 4-3-3 holding formation in between crucial matches. This would definitely give them an offensive advantage where they look to capitalize over counter attacks.

As an alternative, the 22-year-old could be positioned on the right-wing to provide support as a shadow striker for the Sky Blues. Nevertheless, the Argentine forward would be definitely looking at a regular game time where he can improve further.

The Mancunian giants are heading into a crucial season with the UCL trophy in their sights along with defending the premier league title, and the addition of Julian Alvarez could be a brilliant move to strengthen the squad. All in all, should the River Plate star join Manchester City in July, he could feature in the stateside pre-season friendlies against Club America and Bayern Munich to showcase his talents, as the club makes a trip to the USA.