Julián Álvarez set to sign for Atlético Madrid – but why are Man City selling their star forward?

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Fee agreed 

Manchester City forward Julián Álvarez is reportedly set to depart the Premier League champions just two years after making the move to England. According to the Athletic, the 24-year-old talent is set to depart for Atlético Madrid, after both clubs reached an agreement on transfer fees. The Argentina international will reportedly head to LaLiga for a transfer fee worth an initial €75m but could reach €95 million with add-ons. Such a fee would make Álvarez the English club’s record sale by some margin – far more than the current €56.2m Chelsea paid for Raheem Sterling in 2022 – while also earning them a healthy profit on a player they signed for just €21.4m in January 2022. Should the add-ons be met in the future and Atlético end up paying the full amount of €95m for Álvarez’s signature, it will make the player the eight biggest sale in English football history. 

Álvarez made his name in Argentinian football by first coming through the ranks at River Plate, before going on to make 122 appearances in all competitions for the club’s first team. In that time the young forward bagged 54 goals and 31 assists. Such form then earned Álvarez a move to the Premier League, where he has proved to be an excellent option off the bench for Pep Guardiola’s side over the course of the last two seasons. Across all competitions, Alvarez has scored 36 goals and 18 assists in 103 games for Man City. Which works out at no less than 0.81 goals or assists per 90 minutes of football. So why are the English club so content with letting this talented forward leave their ranks on the eave of a new season? 

Perhaps the most obvious reason why Álvarez has pushed for a departure from a club that is often considered favourites for the Premier League and Champions League each season is the simple fact that he isn’t getting enough game time in his preferred positions. Although Álvarez did pick up 3,481 minutes of game time across all competitions last season, eight other Man City players picked up more – most notably star striker Erling Haaland, who Álvarez has had to play second fiddle to for much of his time in England. Indeed, of the 54 appearances the Argentina international made last season, just 22 of them involved Álvarez leading the line as Man City’s No.9. More often than not, the 24-year-old talent was forced to either play as a second striker off Haaland, or further back as an attacking midfielder. This is in stark contrast to Álvarez’s time at River Plate, where he played as a centre forward in 52% of his appearances for the club and where the forward tends to play for his national team. When we couple that with the fact that Man City are well stocked in attacking options, with Jack Grealish and Jérémy Doku on the left wing, Savinho and Oscar Bobb on the right, as well as Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne through the middle, it does explain why Álvarez may have had some concerns over nailing down a consistent role in Guardiola’s team next season. 

This, clearly, is where Atlético Madrid have been able to step in and offer Álvarez a clear path to regular football. So far this summer the LaLiga side have already sold striker Álvaro Morata, while fellow forward Memphis Depay has also departed on a free transfer. And when we couple that with the fact that young centre forward Samu Omorodion is reportedly on his way to Chelsea and João Félix is pinning his hopes on a move to England too, it means that Álvarez only has to contend with a 33-year-old Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sørloth for one of the club’s starting positions in attack. And considering the fact that the Spanish club are reportedly keen to make Álvarez their second highest transfer signing ever behind the aforementioned Félix, it does suggest that new manager Diego Simeone will have every intention of building his new squad around the 24-year-old striker and, finally, allowing him to play where he feels he belongs.