Ralf Rangnick Admits Interest in Manchester City Signing in January Ahead of Summer Move

Following Ferran Torres' move to Barcelona midway through the campaign, Manchester City sought to bolster their frontline and secured the arrival of Julian Alvarez from River Plate on the final day of the January transfer window.

Despite bidding farewell to Sergio Aguero last summer, City's failed pursuit of Tottenham talisman Harry Kane saw the reigning Premier League champions begin the ongoing season without a natural striker in the first-team squad.

With the Blues expected to close a deal for Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland in the coming weeks, the upcoming season will see further competition for places down the middle at the Etihad Stadium - with ongoing uncertainty over the respective futures of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling.

However, whilst City reportedly managed to capture Alvarez over a period of ten days in negotiations with River Plate and the Argentina international's representatives, it emerged this week there were other suitors for the 22-year-old in the January transfer window.

Speaking prior to his side's 4-0 humbling against Brighton on Saturday, Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick revealed he consulted with the club board over a possible move for Julian Alvarez in January.

"There were a few (options Manchester United were interested in January) - (Luis) Diaz - who is now at Liverpool - (Julian) Alvarez - who will be at Manchester City in the summer - and (Dusan) Vlahovic - who at the time was still with Fiorentina," the German said.

"The answer was 'no' and that was it (when Rangnick wanted to sign a striker in January). 

"I spoke to the (Manchester United) board and told them, 'Shouldn’t we at least speak and analyse and find if we can at least get a player - on loan or on a permanent deal?'. In the end, the answer was no."

Despite there being doubts initially over when Alvarez would join up with the first-team squad at the Etihad Stadium, reports in recent months have suggested the young forward will spend the 2022/23 pre-season with Pep Guardiola's side.

Many sources close to the Premier League champions have reported since the beginning of the calendar year that City will prioritise the signing of a dynamic, box-to-box midfielder after they sign a striker in the summer.

Paul Pogba, Frenkie de Jong and Declan Rice are amongst the names on City's shortlist, with Fernandinho leaving at the end of the season and just over a year left on Ilkay Gundogan's existing deal in east Manchester.

Follow City Xtra on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube