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It has been reported that Pep Guardiola is miffed with a certain Manchester City player.

Guardiola is a thoroughbred winner and as a result, he has extremely high standards when it comes to the dedicated a player must showcase when playing under his helm.

The Manchester City boss seemingly heads into every season with the aim of winning every possible trophy — regardless of the factors at play.

Pep Guardiola also does not seem to hesitate letting big names leave if he doubts their quality, fitness, commitment or overall attitude.

Julian Alvarez is one player who cannot be associated with violating any of these fundamentals from the looks of things.

How Julian Alvarez has angered Pep Guardiola

The £100,000-a-week man has been a hit in a City shirt so far — settling into proceedings from day one, scoring goals, adapting well when tasked to play as a number 10 and largely being quite consistent.

In games where Alvarez struggles to have much of an impact in the final third, his head never seems to drop.

Instead, the 24-year-old seems to cover as much ground as possible to recover the ball for City; an invaluable quality for a player to have in any Guardiola side.

However, as per a report by Football Transfers, Pep Guardiola is believed to be “furious” with Alvarez over his decision to head to the Olympics in Paris with the Argentine national team later this month.

It has been claimed that the two-time Premier League winner had a conversation with the Catalan tactician over his desire to play more regular football; prompting Manchester City to allow him to head to the competition after having recently featured in his country’s Copa America-winning campaign.

The report states that when Alvarez addressed his intention to play more frequently, Guardiola tried to actively ensure that he starts more games.

It has also been reported that Manchester City are also “baffled” by the Argentine’s behaviour, considering he has been looking to leave the club for a few weeks.

Furthermore, it has been stated that the Calchin-born striker demand improved terms despite extending his contract in March last year.

But when City presented their offer, Alvarez is claimed to have rejected the deal.

Pep Guardiola is understandably frustrated

It is understandable that Alvarez wishes to represent Argentina at the Olympic Games but simultaneously, Guardiola is also reasonably frustrated as he recently competed at the Copa America.

Pep Guardiola is seemingly happy to let his players who competed in the knockout rounds of Euro 2024 and Copa America the chance to rest and miss pre-season in the process.

But for Alvarez to potentially miss the start of the 2024/2025 Premier League season as well will be a blow to his side — especially if Erling Haaland suffers an injury or in case the Spaniard wishes to rotate his team.

Having started 31 league games for City last season, coupled with the fact that he played at the Copa America and could have a starting role at the Olympic Games, by the time the highly-rated goalscorer returns to Manchester, he could be too fatigued to help his club side out.

Pep Guardiola perhaps needs to have another chat with Alvarez to express his feelings.

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