Pep Guardiola hints at new striker signing as Man City seek backup for Erling Haaland after Julian Alvarez's £82m Atletico Madrid transfer

City are set to lose forward Alvarez to Atletico for a record transfer departure of £82 million ($104m), leaving them with just Haaland up front. While the Norwegian is prolific, he cannot play every game, so having an extra option would be a shrewd move to replace Alvarez's goals. While manager Guardiola did not explicitly state they will sign a replacement, the Spaniard did not rule it out, either.

He told reporters: "We will see the chances at the end of the market if a club needs to sell more than now for example so I don’t know. Coming to the market now and knowing that we make a good transfer in terms of finances with Julian, people are waiting with the red carpet waiting to say come, come here and that is why you have to see what happens. Because the club has done well in the past. Many players didn’t come because the club didn’t pay what the other club wanted for that player. The club will continue to do what is fair."

The writing was on the wall for an Alvarez exit following a comments between him and Guardiola this summer. The Argentine World Cup winner wanted to play more in the bigger games and now he may get that at Atletico. But City, who will make a huge profit on Alvarez's sale, may need to find a replacement for his goals if they want to win the biggest trophies this season.

The summer transfer window shuts on August 30 so City don't have too long to strengthen their attack. Before then, they take on rivals Manchester United at Wembley in the Community Shield on Saturday afternoon.