Perfect Alvarez replacement: Man City must rue selling "battering ram"

Manchester City were unusually active during the recent January transfer window in reaction to the club’s disappointing performances on the pitch this season.

City are 20 points off Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, they have already been knocked out of the League Cup, and they exited the Champions League before the last 16 stage.

Abdukodir Khusanov, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, and Vitor Reis were all added to Pep Guardiola‘s side to bolster his squad ahead of the second half of the season, and beyond.

Marmoush, who arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported fee of £59m, was the headline addition of the window and announced himself to The Etihad crowd with a stunning first-half hat-trick against Newcastle United in the Premier League.

The Egypt international scored 15 goals in 17 matches in the Bundesliga during the first half of the season and will be hoping to continue to impress in front of goal with the Cityzens.

He could, potentially, be viewed as the eventual replacement for Argentine centre-forward Julian Alvarez, who moved on from The Etihad last summer.

How much Man City sold Julian Alvarez for

The Premier League champions decided to cash in on the World Cup winner at the end of the 2023/24 campaign and raked in a reported fee of £82m from Atletico Madrid for his services.

Guardiola revealed that the 24-year-old star had asked to move on from the club as he wanted a “new challenge”, and had potentially become frustrated by playing second-fiddle to Erling Haaland in the centre-forward position, which often forced him to play in a deeper position.

It was a blow for Manchester City, though, because the Argentina international had just come off the back of a haul of 19 goals and 13 assists in 54 appearances in all competitions last season.

That came after the young marksman had found the back of the net 17 times in all competitions during his debut campaign with the Premier League side, after his move from River Plate for a modest fee of £14m.

Alvarez made the move to Atletico Madrid to play under Diego Simeone and has, so far, enjoyed a strong first season with the Spanish side in the 2024/25 campaign.

The former Manchester City centre-forward has racked up 20 goals and five assists in 39 appearances in all competitions, including six goals in eight outings in the Champions League.

Guardiola may, now, have some regrets about cashing in on the young attacker, instead of trying to convince him to change his mind about wanting to move on from The Etihad, as he lost a terrific striker who offered a consistent threat at the top end of the pitch as an alternative to Haaland.

However, a sale the Spanish head coach may rue even more was the one that saw Liam Delap move on from the club, after his impressive progression in recent years.

Liam Delap’s progression at Manchester City

The England U21 international joined City from Derby’s U18s in the summer of 2019 and immediately hit the ground running with a return of seven goals and six assists in 11 U18 Premier League matches during the 2019/20 campaign.

Delap was handed a huge chance to impress in the first-team against Bournemouth in the League Cup at the start of the 2020/21 season and scored the opening goal in a 2-1 win for City.

He dropped back down to the academy, however, after that goal and ended the campaign with an exceptional return of 24 goals in 20 Premier League 2 games for the U21s.

As you can see in the table above, Delap was incredibly prolific at youth level for City and showed promise in the first-team set-up, with one goal in six matches.

The English forward also spent time on loan in the Championship, playing for Stoke City, Preston North End, and Hull City. It was his form with the Tigers – a return of eight goals in 31 league matches – that earned him a move to Premier League side Ipswich Town.

Why Manchester City must rue selling Liam Delap

City and Guardiola allowed Delap to join the Tractor Boys for a reported fee of £20m, with £15m guaranteed, and they should rue selling him as he could have been the perfect Alvarez replacement.

The Cityzens were left with Haaland as their only natural centre-forward option when the Argentine forward moved on last summer, but they already had a fantastic young number nine on their books who could have come into the squad, without costing City a penny.

Delap, who FBref have as a statistically similar player to Jean-Philippe Mateta, Moise Kean, and Benjamin Sesko, has caught the eye in the Premier League for Ipswich this season.

The 22-year-old marksman has scored ten goals and provided two assists in 26 appearances in the top-flight for the struggling side, who currently sit in the relegation zone.

He has been a shining light in a dismal campaign for Kieran McKenna’s team, as he has proven that he has the quality to be a reliable goalscorer at Premier League level.

As you can see in the table above, Delap has been ruthless with the chances that have come his way in front of goal, as the young gem has outperformed his xG by roughly two goals.

The “one-man battering ram,” as described by Opta Analyst, has also won 44% of his aerial duels and completed 1.2 dribbles per game, which shows that he can also offer a physical and front-foot presence at the top end of the pitch.

Alvarez scored 11 Premier League goals last season and is currently on nine in LaLiga for Atletico, which suggests that Delap – given his return of ten top-flight strikes already this term – can provide a similar goalscoring threat.

Therefore, Man City should rue cashing in on the 22-year-old forward before they provided him with a chance to stake a claim for a regular place in the first-team squad, as he could have been the perfect – homegrown and free – replacement for Alvarez.