How Alvarez became Europe's most sought-after striker
Julian Alvarez has scored 49 goals since joining Atletico Madrid
Julian Alvarez heads to the World Cup aiming to fire Argentina to back-to-back triumphs amid the distraction of being the subject of one of the most sensational transfer bids ever made.
The 26-year-old is at the centre of an intriguing three-way La Liga tug-of-war, with current club Atletico Madrid trying to keep hold of their prized asset while rivals Real and Barcelona attempt to snatch him away.
Real president Florentino Perez made good on his election promise to make a 150m euro offer for an unnamed “galactico” player who, it transpired, after much speculation, was Alvarez. But that astonishing bid was laughed off by counterparts across the city.
So why is Alvarez so coveted by the La Liga giants and is he worth the £130m Real have tabled?
Alvarez became a fan favourite during his two-year stay at Manchester City, where he won six major trophies and played a role in the Treble-winning team.
But the striker wanted to leave Etihad Stadium as he was unhappy at playing a deputy role to Erling Haaland, instead wanting to be the main man elsewhere.
Former City boss Pep Guardiola was always open in his view that wantaway players were free to leave, providing the asking price was met.
In August 2024, Atletico agreed an £81.5m deal to sign Alvarez, providing City with a hefty profit on a player they signed for only £14.1m and one that became their most expensive sale.
“There was never any kind of problem,” Alvarez said in a podcast last year. “I simply told him [Guardiola] how I felt - that I wanted more minutes in some matches where I knew I wouldn’t get them or simply wasn’t getting them.
“Of course he understood. Players always want more minutes, they want to grow, they want to play the big moments. And if I felt I wasn’t going to have them there, he gave me the freedom to choose my path.”
Alvarez scored 36 goals in 106 appearances for City, but could he kick on?
Atletico were always likely to lag behind Barcelona and Real in the La Liga title race. They finished third in 2025 and fourth last season.
Alvarez has managed 49 goals and 17 assists in 106 games at the club and received high praise from France great Thierry Henry who said on The Overlap: “One of my favourite number nines out there is Julian Alvarez.
“Putting pressure, playing alone, he can hold it up, he has played at the Olympic Games, Copa America and I didn’t hear him saying he is tired.
“The way he plays, I just like him.”
More importantly for the player, he has been given the opportunity by boss Diego Simeone to feature in the biggest games, something he so desperately wanted to do.
This season, Alvarez scored in the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad, which ended in an agonising defeat on penalties, and also in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Arsenal.
Simeone said in September: “Julian Alvarez is the best player we have, we need to take care of him and keep him for many years at Atletico.
“We have to help him be even better than he is.”
But Real have since come knocking.
When one of the most prestigious clubs in the world are after you, it usually proves too difficult to resist.
Alvarez’s former City team-mate Rodri said in March that “you can’t turn down the best clubs in the world” in referencing a potential move to Real, despite previously playing for Atletico.
It’s not only Real who have been looking to entice Alvarez - with suggestions yesterday’s bid was an attempt to outprice La Liga champions Barcelona, who have long been linked with a move for the player.
Last month, Atletico aimed a dig at Barca over their “smear campaign” in pursuit of Alvarez, while BBC Sport columnist Guillem Balague said talks had opened to sign the Argentine.
The flirtations have seen Barca and Spain defender Pau Cubarsi call Alvarez a “spectacular footballer”, a “world-class striker” and one with the “quality for Barcelona”.
Following Perez’s election victory, the 79-year-old made good on his promise but was mocked by Atletico, who turned down the offer and quoted Alvarez’s release clause of 500m euro (£430m).
In a statement, Real said: “Following the meeting of the board of directors held today, it has made an offer of 150 million euros to Club Atletico de Madrid for the federative rights of the player Julian Alvarez.
“After reviewing and evaluating the offer, Club Atletico de Madrid has expressed its gratitude for the proposal, made within the framework of the good relations between both clubs, and has rejected it, referring to the player’s release clause.”
Atletico quoted the Real Madrid statement on X alongside a series of laughing emojis.
In a subsequent post, they added: “You must have confused education with gratitude, but to leave no doubt: we don’t thank you for anything.
“We neither study nor consider any offer for Julian. How could we not get along, when you make us laugh even more than Barcelona does.”
Now Real are teetering on the edge of becoming a laughing stock.
Since the departure of Carlo Ancelotti at the end of last season, former midfielder Xabi Alonso lasted only 34 games, while replacement Alvaro Arbeloa managed only 21 matches.
They ended the campaign in unthinkable fashion, without winning a trophy and behind arch rivals Barcelona once again.
Perez has turned to Jose Mourinho in an attempt to turn around the fortunes of the floundering giants, who have world-class talent such as Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold at their disposal.
Alvarez would add a work rate and unselfishness that has, at times, been seemingly missing from the current crop of Real stars.
After being rebuffed the first time, attention may now turn back to tempting the Argentine to lead the latest cast of ‘galacticos’ at the Bernabeu.
