Since his move to Manchester City was confirmed on the final day of the January transfer window, the excitement amongst the club’s fanbase ahead of the Argentina international's arrival to the Etihad Stadium in the summer has been palpable.
After all, the comparisons with Sergio Aguero are rightly placed considering the 22-year-old has shown similarities to the City legend in his style of play, celebration and build - factors that have made the relatively unknown commodity a serious topic of conversation amongst the club's fanbase.
It seems as if the buzz around Julian Alvarez is not set to stop anytime soon, with Manchester City legend and former right-back Pablo Zabaleta lauding the River Plate attacker and claiming that the young forward could play a vital role for Pep Guardiola's side in attack next season.
“If Pep (Guardiola) counts on him (Julian Alvarez) next season, he’ll give him importance," Zabaleta said in an interview with TNT Sports this week, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness.
Alvarez has registered 66 direct goal contributions across all competitions for River Plate since he first broke into the first-team at his boyhood club.
"Julian (Alvarez) has the conditions to be a striker for City. We have to see how Guardiola uses him," Zabaleta added.
With Guardiola confirming recently that Alvarez will join up with the Manchester City first-team squad in pre-season ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, he squashed all the doubts around their latest recruit staying at River Plate for an extended period of time to compete in the Copa Libertadores.
In addition, Guardiola’s confirmation also points to the fact that Alvarez is not considered as a project signing for the future, as the City boss clearly believes that the Argentine can contribute to the first-team squad as soon as next season.
When quizzed about where in attack Alvarez could operate at the Etihad Stadium, the former Bayern Munich manager further revealed that he is set to deploy the versatile forward down the middle owing to his presence in the box and sense of goal.
Guardiola's thoughts on where he would like to deploy Alvarez provide an interesting insight into how the Spaniard eyes him as an out-and-out striker instead of a more versatile attacker, such as the current crop of forwards at his disposal in Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus.
With the club's lack of a traditional number nine amid reports linking Borussia Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland with a sensational switch to the east side of Manchester in the summer, Zabaleta could be proven right as Guardiola clearly sees potential in Alvarez as the frontman for his side.
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