Just half a season back, City have decided to offer the returning striker Spider a contract extension to ensure he can play for the team until 2028. The idea is good, but is Alvarez willing to accept the position of a substitute when Haaland squeezes out a lot of playing time? In the future, with Haaland in charge, can Guardiola give the high-profile Argentine youngster the opportunity to become Manchester City's next Aguero?
For the manager, the Argentine player has meant a lot in his long coaching career. In charge of Barca for the first time, Messi was generous in the hands of the manager. Constantly transforming it into a pseudo-number nine and number ten star, Messi's talent has given Guardiola many opportunities to be too bold, not only landing smoothly but even playing amazing results. Sergio Aguero also won a new life at the hands of the manager, eventually becoming the first star in Manchester City's history to be erected by the club.
Can Alvarez continue the legendary record in the manager's hands and become another legendary centre-forward in Manchester City? For now, it's not too hard a thing. Compared to the long-established veteran's stricter requirements for the main position, Alvarez did not maintain a tense posture with the Norwegian because of his rivalry with Haaland. On the contrary, the Argentine star, who was hailed by the team as the third most important player in the World Cup after Messi and Martin, was willing to accept the substitute position given by the coach.
Alvarez believes that Haaland is an excellent player, scoring amazing goals at Dort, Manchester City, and starring in Manchester City's absolute slaughter against RB Leipzig, have shown his value. With Haaland beside him, he has to learn and observe. He is not hostile to Haaland, and he does not have much desire to steal Haaland's main position. In fact, in the middle of this season, the coach tried to take care of the in-form Alvarez and tried to double strike.
But it can be seen that the two-striker version within Manchester City's squad is a bit too aggressive. When two forwards appear on the field, the team often has the problem of too far contact between the forward end and the midfielder, and the midfielder opens up the space to establish the stage of regional offensive advantage, Alvarez maintains the goalscorer instinct for a long time, and is in a relatively distant position with his teammates, making it difficult for the double striker to complement Alvarez and Haaland in the Manchester City team, and finally play brilliantly.
The dual centre does have the problem of occupying too many Manchester City's midfield possessors, and when Haaland himself needs to open up space to reduce cooperation with teammates, taking out Alvarez to open up space is not of much value to Manchester City as a whole. Since the two-centre-forward system cannot coexist, where is Alvarez's future? Maybe it depends on the coach talking to his old friend Bayern, and how amazing the effect Alvarez can give.