‘Am Very Suprise of his form- i think its high time Pep Guardiola start Benching Haaland and Start Playing him- Micah Richards says he wasn’t convinced by 23-year-old Man City star

Micah Richards has said that Julian Alvarez’s recent play for Manchester City has surprised him with how good it has been.

The 23-year-old scored two goals in City’s 3-1 win over Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League in his last game.

The striker has a chance to add to his goals for the season in this afternoon’s Premier League game against Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium. One pundit and former City player has revealed that he had doubts about the player at first.

Richards had this to say about Alvarez in a recent episode of The Rest is Football.

He said, “I’ll be honest, I didn’t think Alvarez was as good as a Haaland or a celebrity, even though he won the World Cup.

“I didn’t think Alvarez was a hero, but he’s proven me wrong. Not only can he score goals, but he can also set them up.”

In his first season with City, the Argentinian international scored 17 goals and set up 5 goals in 49 games across all categories.

Alvarez has scored four goals and set up four others so far this season, which shows how good he has been in front of the net.

In fact, in City’s five Premier League games, the striker has made more key passes (16) and goal-creating actions (5) than any other player on the team. This backs up Richards’ claim that Alvarez is just as good at setting up goals as he is at getting them.

Richards may not have thought of the 23-year-old as a potential superstar, but he is proving to be an important player for Guardiola and City this season. If he keeps scoring goals and setting up assists on a regular basis for the rest of the season, he could be a big reason why they win their titles from last season.