While Erling Haaland’s arrival dominated Manchester City transfer talk this summer, it shouldn’t be overlooked that he wasn’t the only new forward to join the club.
Julian Alvarez also linked up with City’s first team for the first time after returning from his loan spell at River Plate in May. The 22-year-old signed for the Premier League champions in January but was immediately loaned back to the Buenos Aires club on a short-term deal.
The Argentine scored 53 goals while registering 31 assists in just 120 appearances for his boyhood club, making him one of the most exciting prospects to come out of South America in some time.
City fans were given the first glimpse of the forward on Wednesday, when he started in their 2-1 pre-season friendly victory over Club America. In that win, he played through the middle as a No.9 and spearheaded the City attack.
While Alvarez is a versatile player who can also play on either flank, it’s through the middle where 90 per cent of his senior minutes have come so far and that’s where he is at his most dangerous.
His goalscoring record highlights how lethal he is, but it’s the other traits of his game that separate him from his peers and make him so desirable from a City perspective. He's great at finding pockets of space in congested areas to receive the ball and link with teammates around him.
He’s also technically brilliant for his age, regularly taking progressive first touches that allow him to avoid pressure from nearby defenders. Even when the 22-year-old is forced to engage in duels, he’s no lightweight - despite his 5'7" frame. He’s tenacious and aggressive, making him a tough competitor to overcome.
While these facets make him a huge asset with the ball, they also aid his side when without it as he’s excellent at leading a press from the front. We saw examples of each of these things during his first City appearance on Wednesday, leading to high praise from manager Pep Guardiola, who labelled him "incredible".
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Speaking post-match, the City boss added of Alvarez: "Defensively, he is quite similar like Gabriel [Jesus]. Gabriel is probably the best, but he is close to him in aggression and how intuitive he is, he makes the runs and with the ball he’s absolutely brilliant.
"He can keep the ball and you can link with him without a problem. We have the feeling we signed a top-class young player for the next years to come, and we are delighted. The job that [manager] Marcelo Gallardo did at River Plate, we have the benefit. Hopefully, he can grow up in an important league like Premier League."
His pathway to success at City isn’t clear, with Haaland sure to be the club's first-choice No.9 for the season ahead. However, Wednesday was a reminder that Alvarez still has very bright future - one that his manager seems very excited about - and the youngster will ease the workload on his Norwegian teammate as opportunities come his way.
