The Athletic’s ever interesting Transfer Scrapbook came out today with some interesting information on Julian Alvarez in the Manchester City subsection:
“City expect their asking price of around £50million[for Ederson] to be too high. That is the case for Julian Alvarez, who was heavily linked with Atletico Madrid, too,” Sam Lee wrote.
“Atletico are interested but City want a fee starting at around €70million with another €20m in add-ons, and that will be too much for the Spanish side.”
Chelsea were linked with Alvarez earlier in the summer as their search for a really prime goalscorer continues. Earlier in the summer it was reported that the Argentine asked to leave Man City after seeing his playing time drop, while Erling Haaland hogs the minutes, the goals and the accolades.
Chelsea scared off by City’s asking price – but could return after sales
The rumours about Chelsea connections truly have died down – this section of the piece in the Athletic only mentions Man City, in fact. But we know that Alvarez has been on our radar, and we’re sure those in charge know that this is the sort of money it would take to sign him.
He’s not perfect, but he’s got a great eye for goal and a razor sharp finish on him. A €90m total fee is very steep, and it’s hard to see anyone paying that. Perhaps it’s a deliberate attempt from Pep Guardiola’s team to scare off any suitors and prevent any corrosive transfer saga eating into the team’s important preseason preparations.
Either way, it seems to have worked on Chelsea, whose initial interest hasn’t had any follow up at all. We will see if that situation changes once we’ve successfully managed to shift a few players – but we wouldn’t count on it.
