Pep Guardiola delivers blunt transfer message to Alvarez and admits De Bruyne could still leave Man City

Pep Guardiola had a simple message for Julian Alvarez, who says he wants to think about his Manchester City future because he feels he isn't playing enough big games.

No player featured more for City last season, but Alvarez found himself out of the starting XI when Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne returned from injury. He has spent the summer with Argentina first at the Copa America and then the Olympics, and has made headlines by stating that he will 'start thinking about what I want for myself' when he finishes international duty.

"Last season I was one of the players who played the most minutes in the team. But it's true: in the end, in important games, you don't like being left out and you want to contribute."

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Atletico Madrid have interest in the Argentine, who added the Copa America to his long list of trophies this summer, but have not made any offer and City would demand a considerable fee for a player with a contract until 2028.

Guardiola was well aware of the comments, and gave a stern answer when asked whether City would seek a replacement for the forward.

"He said he'd think about it. When he finished thinking about it, his agent is going to call Txiki and we see what happens," the manager said.

"I know he wants to play important moments, yeah. But the other ones [do] too. 18, 19 players as well want to play the big games. I read he wants to think about it. Okay, think about it and after that he will inform us what he wants to do.

"He plays a lot, he wants more? That's fine. That why, think about it. When he thinks about it