Trouble for Haaland? They say he’s being “overshadowed” by a teammate at Man City

In the summer of 2022 Manchester City paid over $60 million to Borussia Dortmund to take Erling Haaland. And in no time he proved that the purchase was cheap. In his first season in England, the striker netted 52 goals in 53 games and led his team to their first ever Treble, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

At the start of the 2023/24 season, he has scored many goals in the English league (8 in 8 games), but was unable to do so in the defeats against Wolverhampton and Arsenal, nor in the two Champions League games they have played. This caused some criticism from the press.

But mainly the questions were fueled by the great performances of another of Manchester City's strikers: Julian Alvarez. The Argentine player had an acceptable 2022/23 season, but Pep Guardiola always considered him as a substitute despite his brilliant performance at the Qatar 2022 World Cup. However, at the beginning of this season his prominence is much higher and the fans are delighted with him.

Former player and current TV commentator Jorge D'alessandro gave an interview to TyC Sports and praised Alvarez, saying: "He is learning, he is with a great teacher, Pep Guardiola, who has also taught him things and is making him a total footballer. Guardiola is a coach to enrich a footballer and especially in the role he is giving him. I think he is eclipsing Haaland. He is totally eclipsing him”.

He compared Julian to a legend

D'Alessandro then surprised everyone by saying that Julian Alvarez is "the new Alfredo Di Stefano" and added: "This kid is at Alfredo's level: he plays in every space, he comes to defend, he recovers the ball. He is playing 2.0 soccer, airplane soccer".