The Citizens have signed Julian Alvarez on a five-year deal.
Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Julian Alvarez from the Argentinian side River Plate. The 22-year-old has already signed a five-year deal with the Citizens after a £14 million agreement. However, he will not join Pep Guardiola’s side until after the current season.
“Julian is a player we have monitored for some time,” City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain said (via City’s official website).
“He is capable of operating in a number of attacking roles, and we firmly believe he’s one of the best young attacking players in South America.
“I am so happy we have managed to bring him to Manchester City. I really believe we can provide him with the right conditions to fulfil his potential and become a top player.”
Alvarez has established a reputation as one of the most promising young strikers in South America in recent years. He has scored 19 goals in his 33 league appearances for River Plate this season. His brilliant performances earned him a senior debut with Argentina in June.
Alvarez’s role at City
Several other European sides, including Bayern Munich, were closely following Alvarez’s situation. However, City have managed to add a new striker to their ranks amid their ongoing search for attacking reinforcements.
Speaking in a press conference in September, Guardiola admitted his side are coping with their lack of a full-on striker.
He said: “Strikers are strikers. We don’t have this weapon that teams like Chelsea, United or Tottenham or others have. We don’t have a player to score 25 league goals for himself so we have to do it as a team. This is what we will try this season.
“These are the most difficult players to take [buy]. We had the privilege to have Sergio for many years. Unfortunately for the last year and a half he was out with injuries and we could not use him much. We survived without him in a good way – in the way we played. There are two options that we have right now: complaining or saying we have exceptional players.”
It is unclear whether City are planning to make Alvarez a regular starter upon his arrival in the summer. The English giants are among the clubs who are eyeing a move for Erling Haaland. However, Alvarez’s deal is unlikely to influence their pursuit of the Norwegian star.
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