River Plate boss Marcelo Gallardo has sent a plea to Pep Guardiola to allow Julian Alvarez to postpone his arrival at Manchester City after the striker’s six-goal salvo in the Copa Libertadores.
Avarez, who walked away with two match balls as his team thrashed Alianza Lima 8-1 in their final group game, is scheduled to join the Premier League champions in July. City paid £14million for the 22-year-old in January and agreed to allow him to remain with River Plate for a further 12 months.
But Guardiola wants to pair Alvarez with £51million Erling Haaland next season - and City will pay a further £1.3million to terminate the loan-back agreement early. Gallardo would love Alvarez to lead his attack in the knock-out stages of South America’s version of the Champions League.
But it seems the 22-year-old will be heading to Manchester after the second leg of the club’s last-16 tie in the first week of July. Gallardo said: “It is difficult to keep Alvarez because City have made a great investment for a diamond.
“Argentina is a country that exports football players, but replacing Julian is not going to be easy. It is very possible he will play in the next round of the Libertadores and then go to Manchester City.
“But if they want to give us the player until the end of the year, then we won’t have any problems! We would be very grateful. “Unfortunately, I don’t think Pep is listening to me. I can tell you that we have prepared a footballer who is already mature enough to take the leap and really take flight.”
How many goals will Haaland and Alvarez score in the Premier League next season? Comment here
Alvarez, who is nicknamed ‘Spider’, is the first River Plate player to score six goals in a game in the club’s storied 121-year history.
Guardiola has told Etihad chiefs that he wants to kick off his bid to win a third successive title with two central strikers after winning back-to-back championships without a recognised goalscorer. He was forced to operate without Sergio Aguero two seasons ago when the Argentine’s final season in Manchester was ruined by injury.
Last summer, the Blues failed with a £100million bid for Tottenham ’s Harry Kane. City still scored 99 goals to retain the title - but Guardiola wants to increase his firepower to finally land the Champions League.
Alvarez will get his first look at Wembley on Wednesday night when Argentina face European champions Italy in a showpiece friendly.
He will link up with his national squad at a training camp in Spain after playing for River Plate in their final Copa Libertadores group game against Alianza Lima tonight.
The reigning Copa America champions will then fly 11,000 miles for a meeting with old rivals Brazil in Melbourne on June 11.
