Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City have risked making a “mistake” by letting Julian Alvarez join Atletico Madrid without replacing the Argentina striker. Alvarez moved to Atletico in an £81mn deal earlier in August after Guardiola accepted his wish to leave in search of more regular playing time. Erling Haaland is well established as City’s first-choice striker but Guardiola had initially hoped to replace Alvarez to ensure there was sufficient depth behind the Norway star.
The Premier League champions were linked with FC Copenhagen’s Orri Oskarsson and Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi, but neither deal had come to fruition in the final hours before the transfer window.
“I’m happy with the squad. We didn’t expect Julian to leave, although he had conversations a long time ago with other clubs and his agent, so it could happen and in the end it happened,” Guardiola said. “We saw what we have, if we have many injuries it will be a problem, but in a few months Oscar Bobb will be back (from injury) and Phil (Foden) is in that position, McAtee can play in that position, Gundogan can play in that position. They are different players to Erling of course. Maybe it is a mistake, I don’t know but I don’t like leaving players without playing for a long time.”
In keeping with Guardiola’s preference for a small squad, German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan’s return to the club from Barcelona and the signing of Brazilian forward Savinho from Troyes have been City’s only close-season deals. James McAtee has also rejoined City after spending the last two seasons on loan at Sheffield United.
Savinho has made an immediate impact for City, providing his first assist for Kevin De Bruyne’s goal in the win over Ipswich last weekend, while Gundogan came off the bench to make his second City debut. After one season at Barcelona, Guardiola said the 33-year-old has slotted in as though he had never been away from Manchester.
Guardiola is hoping for reinforcements for today’s Premier League trip to West Ham, with Rodri back in training and Mateo Kovacic recovering from a knee injury.
England forward Foden is expected to miss out again through illness. Foden was included in Lee Carsley’s first England squad on Thursday along with Rico Lewis, John Stones and Jack Grealish, but there was no place for Kyle Walker, who is yet to feature for City this season.
Arsenal hit by Merino injury blow
Arsenal’s new signing Mikel Merino has been ruled out for several weeks with a shoulder injury that will force the Spain midfielder to wait for his debut. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta revealed Merino suffered the injury setback in his first training session with the club when team-mate Gabriel Magalhaes accidently fell on him. Merino only joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad earlier this week and was in contention to make his first appearance in today’s Premier League clash with Brighton. Instead Merino, who came off the bench to help Spain win the Euro 2024 final against England, will spend his first few weeks in north London on the treatment table.
“It’s very unfortunate. Yesterday (Thursday) he had a collision and he’s got a shoulder injury and it looks like he’ll be out for a few weeks,” Arteta said. “It was in his first session with us. It’s really bad luck, we were all excited, everything was looking good. He landed on the floor, Gabriel fell on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture. He was in so much pain, we have to see. He’ll do more tests which will have more conclusive answers.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal agreed a loan deal for Bournemouth’s goalkeeper Neto to serve as David Raya’s back-up. England keeper Aaron Ramsdale left Arsenal to join Southampton on Friday after losing his place to Raya last season. Arsenal have won their opening two games of the season as they look to finally end Manchester City’s reign as champions after finishing second for the last two years. But Brighton could pose a tricky test for Arteta’s men, with the Seagulls’ new manager Fabian Hurzeler masterminding a pair of victories including last weekend’s surprise success against Manchester United.
“We try to prepare like every manager and team. We have to do the same against a team tomorrow who are doing really well against a coach who brings a new regime in what will be a tough match,” Arteta said.
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Friday: Arsenal v Brighton (1130), Brentford v Southampton, Everton v Bournemouth, Ipswich v Fulham, Leicester v Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest v Wolves (all 1400), West Ham v Man City (1630)
Saturday: Chelsea v Crystal Palace, Newcastle v Tottenham (both 1230), Man Utd v Liverpool (1500)
