Signing a player the calibre of Julian Alvarez could place Arsenal as Premier League title favourites - and that is exactly why it is very unlikely to occur.

Manchester City have sanctioned several marquee departures in recent years, with Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling among those moving on after successful stints, but it would certainly be a premature exit if Alvarez left this summer. The Argentina international joined City back in January 2022, but his debut did not arrive for another six months

The 24-year-old has since played 67 games in Sky Blue with 20 goals and 10 assists, which has seen him become an important player under Pep Guardiola and would certainly explain the response of the Manchester City boss to talk of him leaving.

Speaking in a press conference, he said: "He's absolutely our player. He will come back. I count on him. But he said in the news, and decisions will be made all together. Now has to rest, and when he feels ready to come back, he will come back.

"I'm sure when he comes back I'll hug and congratulate for the Copa America, for the Olympics, and we will start to work together. This is the reality. What happens in the meantime? I have a thousand million things to think about the team, if we are ready.

"Next week we play for the first trophy of the season. Two weeks we play at Stamford Bridge again; that's my only concern." Prior to Alvarez and Guardiola's public back-and-forth, links to Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid were present.

Though the interest from Arsenal may also be there, it is extremely unlikely City sell specifically to the Gunners, even if a ridiculous amount was offered. That is because of the position they find themselves in as Guardiola's biggest threat to a fifth consecutive Premier League title.

The reigning champions sold both Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal in 2022 for a combined £73million and that move very nearly cost them a title. With some winning mentality instilled in his squad, Arteta pushed his mentor right until the final weeks of the 2022/23 campaign, with it then going down to the final day in the last campaign.

As such, letting Arsenal have Alvarez could push them to go one better and end City's domestic dominance by winning a first title in two decades, something Guardiola, regardless of his future plans, will not want to happen.

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