Pep Guardiola admits Man City ‘maybe made a mistake’ selling Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid in £81m deal and claims injuries could become a ‘problem’

Pep Guardiola has brazenly admitted that Manchester City might have made a ‘mistake’ in selling young Argentina striker Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid.

Erling Haaland’s superstar rise at City since joining the club two-years ago largely relegated Alvarez to the bench where he often found himself for the biggest matches.

His return of 36 goals in just 103 appearances, along with winning the World Cup and Copa America during his time at City, saw Alvarez emerge as a top target for a host of major European clubs.

Guardiola was keen to keep hold of the 24-year-old striker as a back-up option for Haaland, but Alvarez’s ambition to get regular starting minutes eventually culminated in Atletico striking a deal with the reigning Premier League champions.

The LaLiga club forked out £81m for Alvarez with City permitting one of their top rising talents to leave, with Guardiola now openly contemplating whether that was the best decision.

City boss Guardiola expressed concern over his squad’s lack of depth in the centre forward position

Guardiola admitted that he didn’t expect Alvarez (left) to leave City during the summer

Speaking ahead of City’s weekend visit of Brentford, Guardiola said: ‘I’m happy with the squad. We didn’t expect Julian was leaving, although he had conversations a long time ago with other clubs and his agent, so it could happen and in the end it happened.

‘We saw what we have, if we have many, many injuries it will be a problem, but in a few months Oscar Bobb will be back [from injury] and Phil [Foden] is in that position, McAtee can play in that position, Gundogan can play in that position, Bernardo…

‘They are different players to Erling of course. Maybe it is a mistake [letting Alvarez leave], I don’t know but I don’t like leaving players without playing for a long time. When everyone is involved with a chance to play the performance of the teams is always better.

Alvarez is yet to score his first goal for Atletico Madrid during the club’s unbeaten start to the new LaLiga season

‘I know the group and how serious and professional they are and their commitment in every single game. We are pretty sure it is better to wait,’ he added.

City are yet to bring in a direct replacement for Alvarez with Brazilian forward Savinho joining but preferring to play out on the wing as opposed to as a centre forward.

That leaves Guardiola with Haaland as City’s only recognised senior striker, meaning the Spaniard will either need to play one of his other stars out of position or dip into the club’s academy for back-up.

Meanwhile, Alvarez is yet to score his first goal for Atletico Madrid during the club’s unbeaten start to the new LaLiga season.