Atletico Madrid have agreed a deal worth up to €95million with Manchester City for striker Julian Alvarez.
Subject to personal terms being finalised he will complete a move to Spain this summer in what will be a record sale for the Premier League club.
The Athletic reported on Monday that the two clubs were negotiating the final price and payment structure of a deal that would see the 24-year-old forward end his two-and-a-half year stay in Manchester.
The versatile forward joined the Premier League club from River Plate in January 2022 for €17m (£14m) and extended his contract last March until 2028.
He is set to become Atletico’s third summer signing following the arrivals of Robin Le Normand from Real Sociedad and Alexander Sorloth from Villarreal.
The La Liga club also retain a strong interest in Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, who has rejected two new contract offers in recent months.
Alvarez made 54 appearances across all competitions for City last season, contributing 19 goals and 13 assists.
He was instrumental in helping Pep Guardiola’s team win the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup in 2022-23 as City became only the second English team in history to win the treble.
He also played a crucial role in Argentina’s triumph at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and has won the Copa America twice. He has been capped 36 times for his national team.
Alvarez represented his country in the men’s soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics, contributing two assists to help Argentina reaching the quarter-finals, where they eventually lost to hosts France.
‘Alvarez fits Atletico ethos’
Analysis by Manchester City correspondent Sam Lee
The fee is one that makes complete sense when you consider that he has been an important figure in teams that have won just about everything there is to win in football inside just two years.
He is a high quality, versatile and, up until this point, rarely injured footballer who has barely had a rest since well before he actually joined City in 2022.
Atletico get a tireless Argentinian, which you could say fits their ethos pretty well, and City get a huge fee, particularly in the current market where clubs on the continent are rarely making signings as big as this.
Whether City put that money towards a replacement or not remains to be seen.
The obvious conclusion is that they will because their stance all summer is that they will only buy if others leave, but it would be no surprise if they felt they had enough cover in attacking midfield areas via Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and even James McAtee, especially with two right wing options (Oscar Bobb and new signing Savinho) which might not require one of the above players to move out wide.
One of those players could also serve as a false nine if and when Erling Haaland cannot play.
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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