Manchester City icon Pablo Zabaleta has revealed that Blues boss Pep Guardiola was “fascinated and delighted” by striker Julián Álvarez very early into his career at the Etihad.
Álvarez joined Manchester City in July after they had struck a €21.4m deal for the Argentinian youngster with River Plate in the January transfer window.
He remained in his homeland for the remainder of the season before moving to England, where it was initially believed he would be sent out on loan.
That was mostly due to the arrival of Erling Haaland, who is the undisputed first choice centre-forward at the club at present and likely to limit Álvarez’s game time this season.
That has not proven to be the case, though, with the highly rated youngster impressing in pre-season and remaining a part of Pep Guardiola’s squad this season.
He’s played a substitute role behind Haaland as expected but still managed to get regular minutes, with 12 appearances in the Premier League and six in the Champions League, scoring goals in both competitions.
Indeed, so impressive were his performances he was named as part of Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina squad for the World Cup, where he has made five appearances and scored two goals in their run to the semi-finals.
That’s seen the focus very much on the Manchester City man and during a discussion about him on ESPN’s EquipoF, Zabaleta revealed what Guardiola said to him about the striker this summer.
“He knows how to wait for the moments, he gives his all and that for a footballer’s career is key,” Via Pais report him saying.
“I was in pre-season with City in the United States, and I met Pep (Guardiola) after a training session. He told me he was fascinated and delighted with him.
“(He said) he was a spectacular guy, very receptive when it came to listening, to working. And he had been working for 10 days, or less, a week.”
