Julian Alvarez has admitted his decision leave Manchester City was caused by its limited role in the winning championship League 2022/23 campaign.
City improved Inter in the final of that year, but Alvarez did not appear at all during the game. He left without use on the bench, as he did in the first stage of the semifinal against Real Madrid. The return support against Los Blancos produced only one minute, in which he still managed to score.
After 12 more months, operating largely as a backup in Erling Haaland, Alvarez took his talent elsewhere, sealing a transfer of £ 81 million to Atlético Madrid in August 2024.
“The truth is that this CitySince I arrived, I trusted me, “said Alvarez Infobae. “I was taken from River to Europe. I played many games, scored many goals, we won titles. It was perfect.
“ And if I had stayed there, I would also have been comfortable. I always said that I am very grateful to the club, but I needed something. Something that told me that I needed a different challenge, to look for something new, something that was not motivation, because I always want to continue for more, but something that, I do not know … a different challenge in my career. And I felt that my best was my place to be my place, I could find my best.
“I want to play the most important games. As I said, I don’t know, in the Champions League final; I did not go in. In the semifinal I didn’t play much, and I would have liked to play in this type of game. And with what I said before, I was thinking about a change.”
Alvarez left the city with a return of 36 goals and 17 assists in 103 appearances. While 61 of these began, most of their opportunities came when Haaland was injured or resting, with the competition ahead of him so intense that Pep Guardiola even chose to deploy it in the midfield sometimes.
Since moving to Spain, Alvarez has scored 20 goals, forming an excellent collaboration with Antoine Griezmann in the Diego Simeone attack.
