Club : Manchester City Nationality : Argentinian Primary Position: Centre-forward Secondary Positions: Left-winger/Right-winger Date of Birth: 31/01/2000 (23 y.o.) Height : 5’7” (1.70m) Foot: Right The signing of Julián Álvarez by Manchester City in January 2022 went largely unnoticed by the football community, especially after City’s acquisition of Erling Haaland the following summer. However, after reaching 10 combined goals and assists in the league in his debut season, as well as lifting the World Cup with Argentina in Qatar, more and more fans are beginning to recognise his talent. Career so far Prior to joining River Plate at the age of 16, Julián Álvarez had trials at rivals Boca Juniors, as well as Real Madrid. ‘El aranita’ managed to score 2 goals in 5 games at a youth tournament for Los Blanco. However, due to age restrictions, he was unable to make the move over to Europe. 2 years after joining River Plate, Álvarez made his debut on the 27th October 2018, and scored his first goal 5 months later in a 3-0 league win for La Banda. This goal would kickstart Álvarez’s meteoric rise in South America. In December of the same year, he would score in the 2019 Copa Argentina Final in his team’s 3-0 win against Central Córdoba to win the 3rd trophy of his career. The following year, he bagged himself 5 goals in 6 Copa Libertadores group stage games, truly starting to catch the eyes of some of the biggest names in Europe. On his 22nd birthday, it was announced that the Argentine would be joining Manchester City in the Summer of 2022 for €21 million, spending the rest of the season with River Plate on loan. To draw the curtains on his story in his native Argentina, the forward wrote himself in the history books. Álvarez scored 6 goals for River Plate in their final Copa Libertadores group match against Alianza Lima, tying Juan Carlos Sánchez’s record for goals in a Libertadores game, which was set in 1985. Since moving to Man City, the forward has impressed in the limited gametime available, picking up Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League winners’ medals along the way, in addition to being one of Argentina’s most vital players in their 2022 World Cup triumph. This season saw the explosion of Julián Álvarez to the world, but many Argentinians would have known this was coming. Style of Play "He’s a special guy, with his work ethic. He reminds me a bit of Gabriel [Jesus], how aggressive he is without the ball.” This quote by Pep Guardiola sums up the Argentine beautifully. Fully committed to his job, doing his utmost both in and out of possession for the benefit of the team. Álvarez is a versatile forward, able to play on both wings as well as his more natural centre-forward role. He is eye-catchingly comfortable on the ball, hard-working in defensive situations, and capable of providing the necessary end-product. He’s an elite striker in terms of build-up, and possesses a skillset perfectly suited to a possession-dominant system. Strengths & Weaknesses Build-up On the ball, Julián Álvarez is extremely similar to his predecessor­—and across the board, for that fact. When compared to other forwards in Europe’s top 5 leagues, Álvarez ranks in the 80th percentile or above for: · Passes completed* · Passes attempted · Pass completion* · Total passing distance · Short passes completed* · Short passes attempted · Short pass completion* · Medium passes completed · Medium pass completion · Long passes attempted* · Long passes completed* · Passes into the final 3rd · Crosses into the penalty area* · Crosses · Through balls.* *10 of these rank in the 90th percentile and above.* In comparison to Gabriel Jesus, Álvarez is a much better crosser of the ball and puts up very similar numbers for all the other stats. The metric which really sets the Brazilian and Argentine apart is key passes. The now Arsenal man produces 1.49 key passes per 90 whilst Álvarez completes 1.21. These may sound similar, however 1.49 key passes put Jesus in the 88th percentile for forwards in the top 5 leagues, whereas 1.21 only manages to get into the 68th percentile. Despite the gap, this is something which will only improve with time as Álvarez’ decision making improves, allowing him to find better options when making that final ball. He has also shown that he is capable of making these decisive passes, as he racked up 3.63 key passes per 90 in the 202 Copa Libertadores. Having someone with Álvarez’s skill set provides Man City with two extremely different forwards. Erling Haaland gives Man City that lethal final end product which City fans had yearned for for years but has brought with him compromises in the way that City can play. Haaland is very rarely in contact with the ball and only ranks in the 60th percentile or above for 3 of the previous 16 metrics mentioned, but none of the 3 are high enough to break into the top 11% of forwards in Europe’s top 5 leagues for those same stats. By having two contrasting players, Pep Guardiola is able to adapt his team to different opposition and different needs as games progress. Dribbling Julián Álvarez is also comfortable with the ball at his feet, dribbling. He produces solid numbers in terms of carrying the ball up the field and into dangerous areas; while he rarely gets the chance to go 1v1 against a defender, when he does, he is more often than not successful. He completes and attempts less than half the take-ons than the likes of Gabriel Jesus. However, his success rate stands at a rather impressive 54.1% whilst Jesus’ stands at 46.2%. To put that into further context, Japanese 1v1 master, Kaoru Mitoma is only successful in 46.7% of his take-ons. Hopefully, in the near future, Álvarez gets the chance to play more regularly and we get to see whether he can apply these numbers on a larger scale. Defence Similar to his build-up play, Álvarez puts up elite numbers for his defensive contributions for players in the same position in Europe’s big 5 leagues. He ranks in the: · Top 1% for tackles in the final 3rd · Top 3% of forward for tackles, tackles won, and dribbles challenged · Top 5% for tackles in the middle 3rd · Top 7% for tackles & interceptions · Top 10% for dribblers tackled · Top 15% for passes blocked. These numbers are very similar to those of Jesus and play into the idea that they are very like-for-like players. Álvarez’s pressing technique is a big part of his defensive contribution, he knows when and how to press too.

Club: Atalanta B.C. Nationality: Danish Primary Position: Centre-forward Secondary Position: N/A Date of Birth: 04/02/2003 (20 y.o.) Height: 6’3” (1.91m) Foot: Left With a transfer away from Atalanta looming over him, Rasmus Højlund has been linked to many of Europe’s top clubs, but Manchester United’s interest appears to be the most concrete. Let’s take a look at how the Dane plays and his suitability to the Reds. Career so far: Rasmus Winther Højlund made his senior debut for his hometown club FC Københaven in 2020, having been in the academy for 3 years prior. He made his way into the team as a result of injuries to a few first team players. But, having impressed, he soon earned himself a new contract at the club. The Dane then went on to score 5 goals in only 232 minutes during Copenhagen’s Europa Conference League campaign. However, this was not enough to keep him at the club. After the arrival of Jess Thorup, Højlund was sold to Sturm Graz in January of 2022 for only €1.8 million, to make way for more experienced forwards. This would prove to be a steal. After only 7 months in Austria, scoring 12 goals in 21 appearances, Atalanta would snap up the centre-forward for the price of €17 million. Despite making a summer move to Italy, Rasmus Højlund remained under the radar for a while and only truly began to burst onto the scene in Denmark’s Euro 2024 qualifiers, where he scored 5 goals in 2 games, catching the eyes of some of the world’s biggest clubs. Style of play: Højlund is one of the new breeds of striker that we are seeing today. Similar to the likes of Erling Haaland, Victor Osimhen and Benjamin Šeško, Højlund is tall, strong, and unbelievably fast. However, despite already being labelled as ‘the new Haaland’, Rasmus Højlund is very different to the Man City striker. When he made the move from his boyhood club to the Austrian Bundesliga, Højlund found himself fitting into a system which best suited his skillset: fast-paced football. Højlund thrives in fast-paced matches, using his speed and strength to drive his team up the pitch and finding space to exploit in the box. Despite his tall frame and build, Højlund doesn’t like to receive the ball with his back to goal against one of the opposition’s defenders. Instead, he prefers to find space to drop into to link play.