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Of course Pep Guardiola is a coach with a new philosophy and has a broad insight into players. He installed Julian Alvarez in De Bruyne's original position. If you saw him in the first game earlier this season. Although at that time De Bruyne did play but in double pifot with Rodri. But it turned out that his hamstring had not healed properly and he only played 23 minutes. Against Newcastle, Julian Alvarez was back in the same position. Even he was able to make goals.
Even though basically Pep Guardiola can rotate his players to be in De Bruyne's position, I think he really hopes there is a suitable De Bruyne replacement this season. De Bruyne is likely to be out for a very long time this season with several rumors suggesting he will return in 2024, obviously this is not good news for him so Pep Guardiola needs a replacement rather than using another player in the squad.
Although Julián Álvarez can contribute well as an attacking midfielder, I don't think he is comfortable in that role. Julián Álvarez has a high desire to score goals instead of helping other strikers score goals, so I don't think he is right for the role of an attacking midfielder. I tend to believe that Phil Foden is much better for that position than Alvarez, but Pep Guardiola could have thought of something else to adjust his strategy.