One of Manchester City’s most important offensive players appears to be leaving the team.
It was claimed earlier this week that City and Atletico Madrid had reached an agreement for Julian Alvarez’s sale for €95 million (£81 million).
As Savinho is the only new player to join the Etihad Stadium during this summer’s transfer window, some information about Pep Guardiola’s potential strategy has now surfaced in the event that the team decides not to acquire a successor for the Argentine.
After Julian Alvarez leaves, Pep Guardiola may end up starting Kevin De Bruyne up front.
This was the conclusion of a recent report on the subject by The Times.
It stated: “After the first few games of the season, Guardiola will determine whether to acquire a replacement for Alvarez, who scored 19 goals the previous season.
He won’t know then if he has enough players available to cover for the Argentinean’s absence.
“If City doesn’t sign a replacement, they’ll probably switch to a false No 9 system and put one of their attackers, like Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, or Kevin De Bruyne, up front when [Erling] Haaland is out of the starting lineup.”
The article continued by adding Guardiola’s remarks from a recent news conference on the likelihood of City signing a new player.
“I said in other years, no chance [of new signings], but maybe this season,” he remarked. Although I am really happy with the team, perhaps we need add someone.
De Bruyne would be ideal in a false-nine role. In the summer transfer window of 2015, City spent £54 million to get the Belgian.
Since then, in 382 games across all competitions, the 33-year-old has scored 102 goals and given up 170 assists.
Even while De Bruyne has played much of his City career in midfield and contributed most of his goals from there, he has also occasionally taken on a more forward role.
He has specifically made 13 appearances for the Citizens as a center-forward, tallying eight goals and dishing out two assists in the process.
If Guardiola finds himself needing to employ him in a false-nine role this season, this illustrates how successful he may be.
