Alvarez will be City superstar
VILLA KEEPER MARTINEZ HAILS PEP’S NEW STRIKER
ASTON VILLA goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has predicted that his Argentina teammate Julian Alvarez will become a superstar at Manchester City.
Martinez revealed how he failed with an attempt to convince the 22-year-old striker to joi n him at Villa Park before City swooped to sign him from River Plate for just £14million in January.
Alvarez will link up with the Premier League champions for pre-season training next month after Pep Guardiola refused to countenance any loan deals for the youngster.
And although Alvarez will be faced with competing
with Norwegian goal-machine Erling Haaland (below, left) for the chance to lead City’s attack, Martinez believes the Blues have got themselves a bargain.
Martinez (right) said: “We all know the talent that Julian has. But he is a very humble guy, who has sacrificed himself and has worked hard to get where he is. He is going to do well at City. In fact, I think he is going to be a superstar.
“I wanted him to come to Villa. I told him to join us. But it was clear that City were already in position.
“Julian is going to do well there. We are talking about him working with one of the best coaches in the world.
“He will bring a lot of quality – but also a lot of commitment to the team.”
River Plate were hoping to keep Alvarez until January so that he could spearhead their bid for the Copa Libertadores. He scored six goals in the group game against Peruvian side Alianza Lima last month and will be available for their last-16 clash with Velez Sarsfield.
But he will fly to Manchester after the second leg on July 6 to meet his new team-mates.
City have also knocked back a request from French club Marseille to take Alvarez on loan for a season.
Marseille’s Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli contacted Guardiola’s right-hand man Juanma Lillo to ask about the striker’s availability.
But Guardiola wants as much firepower as possible at his disposal and is planning to have Alvarez, Haaland and youth-team graduate Liam Delap in his squad. City have won backto-back titles for the second time in Guardiola’s reign. But they have been forced to operate without a recognised striker for most of the last two seasons after Sergio Aguero left.
They have spent £51m to trigger the buy-out clause in Haaland’s contract with Borussia Dortmund – and the 21-year-old is likely to be Guardiola’s first choice.
But Alvarez will want as much game time as possible with the World Cup looming. He made his debut in a qualifier against Chile a year ago and was then part of the squad that lifted the Copa America in Colombia. He already has nine caps. And Alvarez got his first taste of Wembley last week when he came on as a late substitute in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Italy in the Cup of Champions.