Manchester City are ‘close’ to reaching an agreement to sign Julian Alvarez from River Plate.
Alvarez has been linked with several major European clubs following his exciting emergence in Argentina, with the 21-year-old finishing as the league’s leading scorer as River Plate won the Primera División in 2021.
The forward has a release clause of £20m in his contract and the Mail are reporting that City are hopeful of beating off strong competition to seal a deal before the transfer window’s deadline.
Alvarez – who was named as South American Footballer of the Year in 2021 – is not expected to join up with the Premier League champions immediately and could be loaned back to River Plate.
City’s interest in Alvarez is not understood to impact the club’s pursuit of Erling Haaland with the former seen as a future prospect and one that will be given time to develop at the Etihad.
Alvarez formed part of the Argentina squad that won the Copa America last summer after breaking into the national side set-up and has been courted by the likes of Manchester United, Inter Milan and AC Milan.
He has made 96 appearances for River Plate, scoring 36 goals and providing a further 25 assists.
