Man City transfer thinking explained as Pep Guardiola details Julian Alvarez chats

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City are open to signing a replacement for Julian Alvarez as they prepare to pocket a huge sum for the forward.

City have agreed a club record deal to sell Alvarez to Atletico in a move that is worth an initial £64m rising to £81.5m. The 24-year-old spent his summer with Argentina at the Copa America before being an overage player in their Olympics football team, so has not returned to Manchester.

While in France, Alvarez spoke of the frustration of missing out on important matches - he has usually had to play second fiddle to Erling Haaland - and not longer after that Atletico agreed terms. Guardiola said he would not want to keep an unhappy player against his wishes, and is having daily discussions on what to do.

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"I don't know yet. We talk every day and see what happens. It (signing a replacement) could happen but it could not happen," he said.

"I want to say the gratitude of Julian being two years here, we won everything together and his contribution has been massive. He's incredibly loved by the team for his behaviour but like I said many times of many players he wants to leave and a new challenge.

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"Atletico is a top club in Spain and Europe and when they suggested to me that he wanted to leave, imagine he