Pep Guardiola responds after Julián Álvarez comments on Manchester City playing time

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Pep responds to Álvarez comments about Man City playing time

Credit: Julian Alvarez (via Instagram)

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has responded after forward Julián Álvarez has commented on his amount of playing time and potentially dropped a hint about his future at the Etihad.

Having just won his second Copa América with Argentina and now rolling straight into Paris 2024, Álvarez is still yet to return to training with the Man City first team, but the 24-year-old has opened up on what he hopes will happen when he returns to club football.

Speaking to American broadcaster DIRECTV Sports, the former River Plate striker admitted that whilst “there is a lot of talk”, his current focus is solely on the Olympics and that he feels “very good at City”, adding, “I played a lot of minutes”.

However, he did go on to confess that “maybe it’s annoying to be out in big games, players always want to help on the pitch”, adding, “But we will see after the Games. First, if I can, I will take a few days off. Then we will decide” – a remark that has sparked some speculation online.

Not only did Álvarez get the transfer rumour mill churning – inadvertently or not – but it seems word travelled fast to his manager as well, as Pep addressed the situation whilst on City’s pre-season tour in the US.

Speaking to media ahead of the two games against Barcelona and Chelsea this week, Guardiola recognised that the attacking talent “wants to play in important moments, but the other players [want that] too […] I read he has to think about it, so OK, think about it and after that, he will inform us what he wants to do.”

Reiterating that has no desire to sell or replace him, he simply put the ball in the player’s court, stating: “Once he has finished thinking, his agent will call Txiki [Begiristain]”, Man City‘s sporting director, “and we will see what happens.

You can see the clip from the press conference down below:

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Whether this was just a hint towards the Catalan coach in hopes of getting the nod for those most important games or a suggestion that he might look for a move elsewhere if his position in the squad doesn’t change, only time will tell.

That being said, having now played his moments in a treble-winning season, won even more back-to-back major tournaments with the World Cup and Copa América, not to mention looking to bring home an Olympic gold to boot, it’s fair to say he has experience on the biggest stage even at such a young age.

It isn’t the first time questions over his amount of playing time and deployment off the bench have been questioned with fellow compatriot and club legend Sergio Aguero even raising the issue last year, and now reports have suggested that Atlético Madrid have already expressed interest in signing him.

What do you think, Blues, does Álvarez deserve more minutes in the key fixtures and would you keep him in the City squad for as long as possible, or should Pep let him move on if he wants to?

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Featured Images — Julián Álvarez (via Instagram)/Wikimedia Commons/pantkiewicz (via Flickr)