Pep Guardiola praises Julian Alvarez after the striker’s positive start at Man City

Pep Guardiola praises Julian Alvarez after the striker’s positive first few months as a Manchester City player.

City signed the Argentina striker in the January transfer window from River plate but opted to immediately send the 22-year-old back to his former club where he would see out the rest of the season.

Alvarez looked great value at just €17million in the context of his fantastic record while playing in South America.

The young striker scored 54 goals and provided 31 assists in 122 games, representing a return of one goal contribution in less than every two matches. The Argentinian was in particularly fine form last season, in which he scored 18 goals and registered 6 assists in 26 games.

The striker hasn’t been involved in a great deal of first-team football this season, playing just 147 minutes of Premier League football in City’s six Premier League matches, scoring twice.

Despite his lack of game time in the Premier League thus far, he Argentine has impressed whenever he has been called upon, settling into life with the Blues seamlessly after his summer move from River Plate.

Asked how happy he was with his new signing, Pep said: “A lot. I said many times.

“All the headlines are for Erling, and I understand that because of his numbers – but I said in the pre-season in the States that this guy is really good.

“He can play wider with his vision from outside and he can increase our intensity. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t score goals, he always has chance to score it.

“In the training sessions we see how clinical he is and how fast, and clever he is in those moments. We are so happy for him.”

While Alvarez’ minutes have been lacking so far this campaign, it is likely that he will now start to be much more involved within City’s starting eleven.