It has been suggested that Pep Guardiola could block one Manchester City player’s move from signing for Chelsea.
In the summer of 2022, Guardiola famously sold Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal; decisions which divided opinion.
Mikel Arteta’s side were sitting atop of the Premier League table for much of the 2022/2023 season — prompting the question about whether the £378,846-a-week man had made mistakes. But since that summer, Manchester City have won two successive league titles.
Journalist makes intriguing Pep Guardiola suggestion linked to Julian Alvarez
Perhaps the Catalan tactician’s determination to beat Arsenal to the league crown increased — due to the stick he was getting for his decisions to let Jesus and Zinchenko leave the club.
On Tuesday, Fabrizio Romano revealed that Chelsea are interested in signing Julian Alvarez but are yet to make “direct contact” over the move.
Journalist Ben Jacobs suggested in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside that Guardiola could come in the way of Alvarez potentially joining Chelsea.
Jacobs wrote: “Julian Alvarez is not a player Manchester City want to lose, but it’s clear he wants some guarantees over playing time. That makes the situation open.”
“When players like Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer went to Pep Guardiola and explained they wanted a new challenge, the Manchester City boss was very understanding. He might not be as accommodating with Alvarez given his importance to the team.”
The journalist added: “Manchester City got £45 million and £40 million for Sterling and Palmer respectively, and Alvarez’s price tag would be significantly more. At the moment, there is no specific number, but £70 million plus is understood to be the ballpark. There is concrete interest from Paris St-Germain, and they have the budget following Kylian Mbappe’s departure.”
Ben Jacobs also claimed that Chelsea might consider Aston Villa’s Jhon Dhuran their priority signing up front over Alvarez — an outlook that Guardiola could be relieved by discovering.
“Chelsea could be one to watch, but they haven’t yet made any kind of meaningful approach. I still sense Jhon Duran might be ahead of Alvarez given he’s cheaper and only 20. Chelsea have faith in Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku can be used as a false nine, so Chelsea’s recruitment team aren’t as worried as they perhaps were earlier in the year about adding someone already proven or Premier League-seasoned.”
Guardiola would justifiably oppose Alvarez to Chelsea transfer
With Chelsea being one of the Premier League’s most ambitious clubs, Guardiola would not wish to bolster their project by letting them sign a player like Alvarez.
The £14 million man is one of the league’s best strikers and alongside the likes of Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling and Christopher Nkunku, Enzo Maresca could have a dangerous attack at his disposal.
As a result, it would be unsurprising to discover that if Alvarez fancies a move to Chelsea, Guardiola would rather he was sold to a foreign club.
Arsenal already provided Manchester City with tough competition and the two-time treble-winner would not wish for Chelsea to do the same.