Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has reportedly been looking to sign a player currently at Manchester City for years.
Manchester City have carefully constructed a brilliant squad over the years and it is the feeling of many that it is currently the strongest one assembled in the world.
City’s spine is seriously strong, and the squad is just packed with quality players waiting to come into the team.
In the summer of 2022, City brought Julian Alvarez to the club, having previously agreed a deal with his club River Plate but allowing him to remain in Argentina to develop.
£100,000-a-week ace Alvarez has proven a very good signing so far, but in recent days there has surprisingly been some speculation about his future. And it would appear Alvarez has one very big fan in Diego Simeone…
Diego Simeone absolutely loves Manchester City star Julian Alvarez, he’s wanted him for years
Alvarez was a key player for City last season, and was the player to make the most appearances for the club.
He was especially important in the first half of the season, when City had lost Kevin De Bruyne to injury. Alvarez was the man to deputies, and his creativity was very important.
He lost prominence in the second half of the campaign as key players came back into the team. And following a fairly quiet end to the season, there has now been some talk about interest from other clubs.
Atletico Madrid were among the first to be mentioned and a claim has now been made about their manager Diego Simeone.
As per Esto Es Atleti, the 54-year-old has been interested in Alvarez for many years. He actually wanted to sign him years ago, and it is stated that Atletico did actually attempt to sign him while he was at River Plate. Before he really rose to prominence at River and as Marcelo Gallardo was only giving him sporadic minutes as a winger, Atleti wanted him.
But it was City who would go on to land him, after he then made his mark at River. The club bought him for a reported £14 million.
Simeone is not keen to try again to sign a player he has long coveted.
Alvarez could go
All this talk about Alvarez has rather come out of nowhere, and it is fairly surprising considering he made the most appearances for City in 2023/24.
Ultimately, Alvarez played as much as he did because of injuries to key players. Had those injuries not occurred, then he would have been on the bench more – as we saw towards the end of the season.
Supposedly, City would be willing to sell Alvarez – who also has interest from Paris Saint-Germain – for around £67 million this summer. That is a more than fair asking price.
It could be that he goes. Phil Foden and Erling Haaland are both pretty much undroppable for City now and those two are direct rivals to him in terms of minutes. He would easily become a regular starter for many other clubs in Europea.