Alvarez done deal - £82m to Atletico

[Alan Harper's Tash]

They already have the Spain and Netherlands No9s so he will have more competition than at City

Morata has signed for Milan. Depay won’t be quite the competition of Haaland.

 

[nmc]

To be fair using the rags as any kind of barometer regarding transfer business is a bit unrealistic imo, as any selling club dealing with them realise rags negotiators are totally fucking clueless and desperate every time they arrive at the transfer table.

And scruffy jim isn't going to be able to change that mentality overnight .

I do agree with your overall point about the fee for Alvarez however.

The Rags consistently over pay largely because they are prepared to pay a premium to pay over the long term. How long can they sustain losses and a negative cash flow ?

 

[BringBackSwales]

I did not suggest that for a moment just giving a different view of the abilities of two City players.The view in Argentina is different to the popular view in Manchester.My point is that Julian contributes more to a team than Foden.

Wow. I think both of them have a phenomenal work ethic and I wouldn’t say one was more than the other, both top 1%

 

[JewelZee]

Yeah i know what you mean. He's very unfortunate that he will always play second fiddle to Haaland, and that just isn't going to change. That being said, if say for arguments sake we sold Haaland, i still don't think he'd be his replacement long term.

I don't either...

 

[JewelZee]

I think what was exposed in the Euros was Southgate’s tactical limitations not Phil’s footballing limitations. The ball was rarely retained in forward areas in any of our games, hence Phil ran more than anyone to try and get the ball. Add to that the failure of Judas Bellingham to pass the ball to him

Why haven't teams in the Prem and the CL been able to "expose" Phil's weaknesses? A round of games on that England squad are indicative of nothing meaningful regarding the Prem POY...there is not a single player on that England squad I would ever trade Phil for...

 

[willipp]

They already have the Spain and Netherlands No9s so he will have more competition than at City

Completely different levels. Alvarez is better than both those 2, he will never be better than Haaland.

 

[mancboy]

alvarez could well end up like jesus, im all for backing your own talents but manys the player has looked good in a city team and has their flaws ruthlessly exposed when they stepped up to another team to become the player they thought they were

 

[JewelZee]

Perhaps you are right but you should consider the possibility that Scaloni is getting more out of Julian than Guardiola.
Foden has won nothing with England.Julian the World Cup,Two Copa Américas and Finalissima with Argentina.He is now playing the Olimpics to add to all of those plus the Libertadores,Champions,Premier,Liga Argentina.
Foden outside of City?

Foden is above Julian in direct footballing comparisons. Should Nacho or Carvahal be up for the Balon D'or?

 

[Dax777]

I've always thought he was the most likely to leave. He is the most talented bad fit on the team.
Whenever I thought of Wirrz or Musiala coming, it was always Alvarez I thought of as leaving.

Good player, not the best fit when not playing striker.

 

[waspish]

Reports now that they want to loan Alvarez because we will make it to hard for them! Fuck me we will be one soft arse pussies if we loan out a player of Alvarez quality when he played the 4/5th most games last season!

 

[Ric]

Absolutely zero chance we loan Alvarez out.

 

[lancs blue]

I think what was exposed in the Euros was Southgate’s tactical limitations not Phil’s footballing limitations.

Not just down to Southgate for once - Kane's disappearing act was a huge liability, it significantly reduced Foden's effectiveness.

 

[meeesh]

Reports now that they want to loan Alvarez because we will make it to hard for them! Fuck me we will be one soft arse pussies if we loan out a player of Alvarez quality when he played the 4/5th most games last season!

Can’t see Pep authorising or agreeing to that

 

[Mancini’s Pastilles]

If Atletico had the money to pay for that Wanker Felix then they have 80 mill for Julian

 

[Passarella]

Foden is above Julian in direct footballing comparisons. Should Nacho or Carvahal be up for the Balon D'or?

thats your opinion but Julian has won a lot more

 

[HelloCity]

Would be disappointed to lose him, but it was always going to be difficult to keep him happy as a backup to Haaland. The experiment with him playing deeper last season never really worked, and he's too good not to be starting regularly. Hope he doesn't go, but can see why Atletico would appeal to him and we would at least get a decent fee for him. Alvarez out, Olmo in wouldn't be the worst scenario in terms of squad options. Would still need a backup for Haaland though.

We’ve done well in the past with no striker at all.

 

[blueparrot]

We’ve done well in the past with no striker at all.

Only with Jesus who understood the role. We tried,Foden, Grealish, Bernardo with varying degrees of success. Not sure we have the required player to play false 9 if Alvarez went. Doubt he goes anyway this summer.

 

[Blue_Lightsaber]

And I'd love Margot Robbie on loan too!

Reality is I could afford to pay Chelsea for an Astrid loan but Margot Robbie loan isn't gonna work!

 

[Ajm1985]

Only with Jesus who understood the role. We tried,Foden, Grealish, Bernardo with varying degrees of success. Not sure we have the required player to play false 9 if Alvarez went. Doubt he goes anyway this summer.

Olmo would be alright at false 9 in fairness

 

[Haaland94]

Nightmare scenario is if we sell Julian this summer to accommodate him and then can't get a contract extension done with Haaland. We'd be up the fucking creek - Alvarez is quite literally the only insurance policy we have right now if Haaland doesn't want to keep playing in Manchester.

Another thing to keep in mind is how much it would cost to bring in a striker with Alvarez's resume and caliber to the club. We'd likely be paying north of £100m to get a Julian Alvarez if the roles were reversed. And that's even assuming a striker is available for purchase, which as we all know is far from a certainty. The striker market has been dry for years and star goal scorers usually don't just become available.

If that bum Rasmus Hojlund went for £72m last summer I don't' see how we're selling for anything less than £85-90m and that's only if we get positive news on Haaland signing a contract extension. I know I'd be pushing for a 9 figure fee given what Atleti paid for Joao Felix.

Also, any such Alvarez replacement would have to accept being our 2nd choice striker. In other words, it's not happening. I reckon we would just play with a false 9 again if needed.