“Come Back Clean”- Pep Guardiola Warns Julian Alvarez Hours After Atletico Madrid’s First Offer

Julian Alvarez leaving Manchester City seems to have become a real possibility. Having played second fiddle to Erling Haaland since arriving from River Plate in 2022, looks like the Argentinian wants to cut the apron strings for more playing time. That took no time to see his wish get in the ears of Atletico Madrid as the Spanish club came knocking to present their initial offer. However, Pep Guardiola has sent a warning to Alvarez, demanding that the striker will be ‘playing every three days’ ahead of the new season.

In a recent presser, when questioned about the future of Alvarez, Pep Guardiola responded, “No news. Zero news.” But quickly enough, the Spaniard had more to add regarding the transfer buzz surrounding his favorite substitute.

“Julian [Alvarez] deserves now to take the time that he needs, to come back clean. Not just in the legs, especially stuff here [in the mind]. Because playing every three days in front of 55,000 people is so exhausting; for the responsibility, to do well…” said Guardiola, as per @City_Xtra.

Notably, Alvarez asserted that he doesn’t like being on the sidelines for important games, like missing out on the FA Cup final as Haaland started ahead of him. This comes even after the 24-year-old knows he was one of the players in the Premier League with a team last season.

Interestingly, days ago, Guardiola responded to Alvarez’s divine wish that would make him at City saying, “I know he wants to play in important moments too, but others ones too. We have 18, 19 players that want to play important games.”

Additionally, the former Barcelona tactician denied that City is looking for his replacement and assured that Alvarez’s agent is set to meet with club director Txiki Begiristain. But let’s hope that isn’t to discuss the latest call from Spain.

Amid Pep Guardiola’s ultimatum, Julian Alvarez gets lucrative deal from Atletico Madrid

The La Liga side is currently in the market to hunt for a new striker as they wish to replace Alvaro Morata, who recently signed for AC Milan. Diego Simeone and Co. have admired Julian Alvarez for quite some time and the latest reports from @DamianAvillagra on X states they have an offer to lure him away from Etihad. It claims that Atletico Madrid is ready to pay €70m ($77m) + €20m ($22m) bonuses for Julian Álvarez.

Los Rojiblancos are keen to close the transfer after the Olympic Games, where Alvarez was at the service of Javier Mascherano’s U-23, who got knocked out by France earlier today. While the former River Plate star would be looking to extend the talk of his future amidst recent summer games upset, the ball is in City’s court as it remains to be seen how they wish to respond to Atletico’s offer.

Earlier, the Cityzens reportedly kept Alvarez’s asking pricing significantly high to lure away potential clubs from acquiring his signature. This, of course, didn’t settle with the striker who demanded the Sky Blues to stop their antics. Even though Alvarez has a contract until the summer of 2028, Guardiola and Co. are ready to offer him a salary hike to stay put at Etihad. Regardless, it is evident that it’s not money that Alvarez is interested in.