Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Manchester City have offered Julian Alvarez a new contract and a payrise less than a year after joining, as they see him as a big part of their plans.
How has Alvarez performed for Man City?
The Argentina striker joined from River Plate in the summer and has since won the World Cup, but is second-choice at centre-forward behind Erling Haaland.
Nevertheless, the club view him as an integral part of their plans going forward and have now offered him a new contract despite him joining less than 12 months ago.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano gave insight into the details of the contract on the table.
He said: “Now what’s going on is that Manchester City have sent a new proposal to the player.
“So on the table of Julian Alvarez and his agents, there is a fresh proposal from Manchester City to extend the contract, and especially to have a new salary.
“From what I understand, the new proposal is on the table, Manchester City have improved their bid. And now it’s on Julian Alvarez, but there is optimism on both the player’s and club’s side to get the agreement reached and done as soon as possible.
“This could be important news for Man City, for the present and future, as we had many rumours, but let me clarify that for City, Alvarez is absolutely part of the project and an important player for the team and for Pep Guardiola.”
Where can Alvarez play for Man City?
Given Haaland’s astonishing form this season, with 33 goals in 34 games, it is unlikely that Alvarez will be able to displace him from the starting XI any time soon.
Alvarez has started just six of his 19 league appearances as a result, and has either played alongside Haaland as a second striker or on the wing.
Guardiola does have the option of switching to a two-striker formation, but given that this has not happened in his tenure when the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero were battling for the same position – the duo only shared time on the pitch for as much as 45 minutes on 21 occasions – it seems unlikely that this could happen soon.
Haaland has described Alvarez as “amazing”, perhaps indicating that despite competing for the same spot, that the two can co-exist in the same side.
Alvarez may therefore have to settle for a wide role for the time being, but this prospective new contract indicates that City have no intention of letting him go, and could offer him more playing time in order to convince him to sign a deal.