Could Villa make a move for Manchester City star?

It has been reported that Manchester City and Argentina forward Julian Alvarez has rejected the offer of a new contract at the Etihad and has asked to leave the club.

The news comes as quite a surprise to Manchester City fans given how important a role Alvarez plays in Guardiola's squad. With Aston Villa looking for players with genuine Champions League quality, the Villa fans are already calling for Monchi to work his magic and sign Alvarez.

Alvarez, who scored 19 goals and produced 13 assists across all competitions for Manchester City last season, started 31 of 38 league games last season which is good going considering how often Pep Guardiola likes to rotate his squad. Combine that factor with the fact City have a huge number of attacking options in Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku in the attacking areas, it can't be underestimated how important his influence is in the City team.

Alvarez possesses a number of skills that Villa would like to have in their team. Having lost Douglas Luiz, who was critical at set pieces for Villa, Alvarez would be an ideal replacement in that aspect. Alvarez is very good over a dead ball and has scored a number of free kicks for City. With a Goals and Assists output of 0.65 per 90 minutes, that is better than Douglas Luiz (0.42), Morgan Rogers (0.55) and Moussa Diaby (0.58). Alvarez, who either plays as the centre forward or the No.10 is always heavily involved in the play going forward.

Of the19 goals scored last season, five of those came in the Champions League. Alvarez has two season's worth of experience at Europe's top level and is exactly the kind of star quality that would elevate the Villa squad. We of course have to remember that he is a World Cup winner and therefore is an international teammate of Emi Martinez who could prove heavily influential if a deal was to be pursued.

With the latest news that Aston Villa are close to signing Amadou Onana from Everton, the club are looking like being in a very good position heading into the new season. Villa have added six players already this summer, including Onana, which has improved the quality of depth for the team.

UTV