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The ex-River and Borussia Dortmund stars are gearing up for a new challenge at the Etihad Stadium this season
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insists that Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland can both start up front for the Citizens in the right system. The young strikers are both new faces at the Etihad Stadium, having signed this summer from River Plate and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
While Haaland is a familiar face in Europe thanks to his Champions League and Bundesliga exploits, Alvarez is somewhat more of an unknown quantity.
But Guardiola believes he is has already acclimated to life at City and backed the Argentina international to make a big impact.
Can Haaland and Alvarez play together?
“If we play with tighter wings, I see [Alvarez] as complementary to Haaland,” the manager explained to ESPN when asked if the pair would share the pitch.
“If we play with more open flanks, not so much.”
Guardiola added on Alvarez: “Julian has already adapted. A good player can adapt in the space of two afternoons.
“If you’ve got it, you’ve got it in Argentina and in England.”
Is Alvarez ready for the Premier League?
The 22-year-old has played his entire professional career to date under Marcelo Gallardo at River, an experience that Pep believes is crucial to ensuring he can hit the ground running at his new club.
“We were not wrong about Julian. He is a team player,” he continued.
“He can score, he knows where the goal is. He is an extraordinary signing. We are going to make the most of Gallardo’s work and we hope to add some things to his game. We want him to feel good, he has already adapted.
“Julian has come from a big team, with the obligation to win and keep winning. That is what River is about, just like Boca. That is drummed into a player’s head. We also bought that mentality.”