It's only a reasonable question if you haven't been paying attention. The uninitiated and those who haven't been watching
Manchester City week in and week out this season may take a glance at Julian Alvarez' name on the score sheet after another electric performance and ask: "How long will such a good player be willing to play second fiddle to Erling Haaland?" "After all," they may well reason, "he's already a
World Cup winner and is clearly so brilliant, surely he'll want to play more? He can't be happy sitting on the bench? Won't he want to be the main man to lead the line? The undisputed No.9?" ALSO READ: Walker challenges Haaland to improve even more with Kane comparison All very reasonable and no doubt mostly correct, too. Alvarez, like any footballer, will want to play as often as possible and although he has played in the majority of City's matches this season with 42 appearances, he will definitely be wanting to make more than 18 starts. However, if it wasn't already made clear by the fact he extended his contract by a further year back in March, Alvarez won't be going anywhere any time soon and has already answered those doubters loud and clear. The Argentine started at Craven Cottage on Sunday, ahead of Kevin De Bruyne no less, and put in yet another excellent display. In fact, it was a match-winning one as he claimed the penalty for Haaland's opener and then curled in a delightful shot for the winning goal. The crucial contributions took his tallies for his debut season in Europe, let alone
England, to 15 goals and five assists. It also continued an interesting trend. Of those 15 goals, 13 of them have come when he has started matches. The only two games he's come off the bench to score in are against
Liverpool in the Community Shield and the doomed Southampton. Then, of those 13 goals, over half of them with eight have come when Alvarez and Haaland both started. Though it's been handy for
Pep Guardiola to be able to rely on Alvarez to play up front when Haaland has been sidelined or needed a rest the fact is he isn't really competing with Haaland for a spot but with City's array of midfield and wide talent instead. When he arrived in Manchester, Alvarez himself discussed his versatility. "I have played in different positions. I would say I know how to find space in attack, and I am a good finisher too," he said. "I feel comfortable playing either [centrally or out wide]. I can do outside or inside, but being inside I have scored more goals because of the distance to the goal." Though he has played on the flank on a couple of occasions, Alvarez has tended to operate in a central position. He is usually coming into the side in place of De Bruyne and operating in that advanced centre-right space but with the aim of getting closer to Haaland to offer more support. It has consistently worked a treat. So instead of an unhappy striker sitting on the bench waiting behind a man whose ridiculous goal rate means he starts every single match he's able, City have turned Alvarez into a dynamic creative midfielder who can still fit right into the side and have a huge positive impact. The reality is, nobody is regularly starting up front instead of Haaland while the Norwegian sensation is at the club but that doesn't need to be a reason for dissatisfaction for Alvarez. Of course, he is behind the brilliant Belgian as well as Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan in the pecking order too but the fact he is able to operate in every advanced position to an incredibly high standard means his chances of playing are dramatically increased. Upon extending his contract, Alvarez said: “I have been really pleased with my first season here, but I have plenty more I can do. I know I can be better, and City offer me everything I need to fulfil my potential." That certainly doesn't sound like a player unhappy with his lot and the big question surrounding his long-term future has been answered in resounding
fashion. READ MORE: Historic goal masks hidden Erling Haaland improvement Alvarez wants City to be less reliant on Haaland to boost title hopes Why Man City ignored fan requests and put season ticket prices up Guardiola hints that Alvarez could force City rethink Annoying Man City showed useful title-winning quality vs Fulham