Julian Alvarez was public about his wanting a move away from Manchester City, and now he has gotten it. According to various outlets, an agreement has been reached to send Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for a deal worth up to €95m (£81.5m). According to ESPN, “around £64m (€75m) will be due up front with another £17m (€20m) in performance-based add-ons.”
Meanwhile The Guardian reports that while the agreement has been reached in principle, and a transfer fee agreed, there are still issues of personal terms to resolve.
FA Community Shield FYIs
Manchester derby “curtain raiser”
Kickoff: Sat. Aug 10, 6pm BST, Wembley Stadium, London, UK
Team News: Man City Man United
Starting XI Predictions: Man City Man United
Watch: ITV 1, ITVX and STV (UK), ESPN+ (USA) DAZN (Canada)
However, no one expects personal terms to be an issue for the Argentinian striker, and this deal should get over the line very soon. When it does, it will mark a new club record sale for Manchester City, surpassing the £55m they collected from sending Ferran Torres to Barcelona.
City will also make a massive profit on this deal, as they paid £14m for his rights when he signed from River Plate in January of 2022.
Alvarez, 24, now gets his chance to be the regular first choice No.9 day in, day out. That wasn’t happening, and it was never going to happen at City, due to the presence of the greatest scorer in the game, Erling Haaland.
It’s also a great deal for Atletico, now that Alvaro Morata has moved on to AC Milan. Expect more dominos to fall after this. Pep Guardiola will make a move to replace Alvarez.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.