Manchester City have agreed to pay an extra £1.3million to pair Argentine striker Julian Alvarez with Erling Haaland from the start of next season.
Alvarez was loaned back to Buenos Aires giants River Plate for 12 months after celebrating his 22nd birthday in January by agreeing to join the Premier League champions in a £14.1million deal. But Pep Guardiola has told Etihad chiefs that he wants to kick off his bid to win a third successive title by having TWO strikers at his disposal after landing the first two without a recognised goalscorer.
That means City will splash a little more cash for the loan-back deal with River Plate to be terminated. Alvarez will still be able to feature in the last 16 of the Copa Libertadores for Los Millionaires but will move to Manchester after the first leg in the first week of July to start pre-season training with his new club.
River Plate are now in the market for a replacement. Guardiola 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 £100m 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. The arrival of the prolific Haaland is a significant statement of intent.
But City’s striking options will be bolstered further by the early arrival of Alvarez. 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.
