Man City already have perfect Julian Alvarez transfer alternative saving millions

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards believes that Pep Guardiola already has a ready-made replacement in his squad for the outgoing Julian Alvarez this summer.

Guardiola confirmed last week that Alvarez had expressed his desire to leave City this summer. The Argentine cited his desire to play more football as reasoning for his decision and Atletico Madrid appears to be his likely destination.

It is understood the La Liga club has agreed a deal worth up to £82m with City for the striker who scored 11 goals in 36 Premier League appearances last season. While Alvarez's expected departure is a loss for the Blues, Richards believes that Norwegian youngster Oscar Bobb is primed to fill the boots of the World Cup winner.

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"Ooh, it’s a tough one because Man City have got so many great players, where if you’re out [of] the team for a little while, someone comes in and just plays well," Richards told Capital XTRA Breakfast with Manny Norte (sitting in for Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie). "Even look at the likes of Phil Foden last season.

"Kevin De Bruyne gets injured for a couple of months; Foden, you can’t take him out [of] the team to put Kevin De Bruyne back in. I think the price is right, if I believe it’s around £70m (£82m) I believe which is a lot more than what they paid for him.

"But I’d be sad to see him leave, he’s a quality player. There were times 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 shows you, the manager – Pep, man. He manages to get rid of top players and still