According to former Manchester City defender Micah Richards, Pep Guardiola already has a ready-made successor for Julian Alvarez in his team this summer. Alvarez is leaving.
Alvarez had stated that he wanted to leave City this summer, and Guardiola verified this last week. The Argentine made his selection based on his desire to play more football, and it looks like Atletico Madrid will be his final destination.
It’s believed that the La Liga team and City have reached an agreement on a transfer of up to £82 million for the striker, who finished the previous season with 11 goals in 36 Premier League games. The Blues will miss Alvarez’s anticipated departure, but Richards thinks Oscar Bobb, a young Norwegian, is ready to step into the World Cup winner’s shoes.
“Well, it’s difficult because Man City has so many excellent players; even if you’re not playing for a while, someone else can step in and do a great job,” Richards said on Capital XTRA Breakfast with Manny Norte, who was filling in for Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie. “Take a look at players from last season, like Phil Foden.
“When Kevin De Bruyne is hurt for a few months, Foden cannot be removed from the team in order to make room for Kevin De Bruyne. I think the price is fair; it’s probably around £70 million (£82 million), which is far more than they paid for him.
“But he’s a great player, so I’d be sad to see him go. There were moments when [Erling] Haaland wasn’t playing to the best of his ability, Alvarez would come in, would link it up, scored some important goals.
“But it just goes to show you, manager—Pep, dude. I’m not going to disagree with Pep if he feels that it’s the correct thing to do because he manages to get go of elite players while maintaining his style of play. I asked Pep some questions and tried to argue with him a few times, but each time he made me appear foolish!
“So, it would be intriguing to see who Pep brings in in that situation, should they decide it’s time. However, you know who we ought to be focussing on? Beware of Oscar Bobb.
“He made a brief appearance in the last campaign and scored a goal against Newcastle when Kevin De Bruyne entered the game and found him with a small, lovely move. But he’s been tremendous in the preseason.
He can play number ten and can be found on the left or right, thus I predict that he will score more goals this season. He will become quite popular.
