According to a report from The Athletic, Manchester City have slapped a huge £75m price tag on Julian Alvarez amidst interest from Chelsea.
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Owing much to Erling Haaland’s injury, the 24-year-old forward started 31 Premier League games this past term and duly delivered the goods. However, Haaland’s return saw Alvarez’s game time substantially decrease and he only managed 17 minutes across the final four league games as Man City trumped Arsenal to the league title for the second successive year.
It is believed the Argentinean, currently representing Argentina at the Olympics in Paris, desires more regular first-team football and is considering leaving the Etihad Stadium to achieve that. However, City will now allow the 2022 World Cup winner to depart on the cheap. The aforementioned report claims Athletico Madrid are interested in signing Alvarez this summer but are not willing to match City’s valuation.
This should give Chelsea a big boost in their pursuit of Alvarez, as Enzo Maresca looks to bolster his attacking options for the 2024/25 campaign. The Blues have been busy making moves in the transfer market, sticking to their principles of acquiring young and hungry talents with large room for development.
When it comes to the attacking unit, they have signed young Spanish forward Marc Guiu from Barcelona by activating his £5m release clause. Whilst talented, Guiu lacks top-flight experience and will certainly need time to adapt to the demands of Premier League football. So, it won’t be fair to expect the teenager to hit the ground running right away and deliver the goods for Chelsea.
Chelsea certainly needs a more experienced attacking option who would improve their productivity in front of goal after being heavily reliant on Cole Palmer this past campaign. Alvarez, in that regard, fits the criteria perfectly. Capable of playing as a striker and a No.10, the Calchin-born star could provide a spark to the Blues’ attack to slice open well-drilled defences, while coming up with goals frequently.
Maresca knows Alvarez well having managed him at City as Guardiola’s assistant for a year before taking the head coach’s role at Leicester City last summer. Now the head coach of Chelsea, the Italian would be keen to reunite with the Argentinean forward which is apparently reflected by the Blues’ interest in the player.
City value Alvarez highly and why won’t they, so the ball is in our court whether we want to pay a premium for the talented forward’s signature or not.