Pep Guardiola's old pal emerges as a key player in Man City's pursuit of Erling Haaland

Manchester City completed the signing of Argentinian gem Julian Alvarez on deadline day, the first striker to sign for the club since Gabriel Jesus five years ago.

The capture of the 22-year-old goalscorer for £14.1m represents good business for City, who sold Ferran Torres to Barcelona at the beginning of the month for £46.7m.

The moves mean that City now have an extra £30m in their transfer kitty, and with Alvarez viewed as a promising player for the future, Pep Guardiola's side are still very much in the market for an elite striker.

The man City want to fill the role is Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, one of the best attackers in the world despite still only being 21 years old.

City are braced to fight for the Norway international, with Real Madrid and Barcelona looking like the other main potential suitors. It is believed that Haaland personally favours a move to Madrid, although City are confident that they can convince the striker to join them at the Etihad Stadium.

Now, after a typically hectic transfer deadline day for many of Europe's top clubs, City may have taken the upper hand in the race to sign Haaland without actually doing very much at all.

That is because Barcelona - whose president Joan Laporta has previously stated they will try to sign Haaland - signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in an eleventh-hour deal on deadline day.

While the deal is yet to be made official, it is understood that Aubameyang and Arsenal came to an agreement to terminate his contract after a falling out between himself and former City man Mikel Arteta, allowing the Gabon international to sign with Barca as a free agent.

The signing of Aubameyang means that Xavi now has 10 attackers in his squad, raising the question of whether