This could be the biggest transfer of the summer.
Manchester City sell Julian Alvarez to Atlético Madrid.
Reports suggest that the sum is around $82 million plus an additional $22 million, which would make Alvarez a record sale to Manchester City. It is also more than any other transfer so far this summer and would be Atlético’s second most expensive signing, behind the signing of Joao Felix from Benfica.
Alvarez is part of what looks like an expensive rebuild at Atlético, who have already signed defender Le Normand from Real Sociedad and forward Alexander Sorloth from Villareal, and also look set to sign midfielder Conor Gallagher from Chelsea. Manchester City makes a big profit from Alvarez, who they bought from River Plate for around $18 million in 2022.
But why is Atlético Madrid paying so much for Julian Alvarez?
Part of the reason is that strikers are generally expensive. Goals are precious and clubs will always pay a premium for a striker capable of scoring at the highest level. West Ham United just paid around $35 million for German Niclas Fullkrug, who had a similar goalscoring record last season, but is seven years older than Alvarez and will have little resale value in a few seasons. Atlético Madrid need a quality striker. Last season they finished fourth in La Liga and scored only 70 goals in the league, 15 less than third-placed Girona. No Atlético player was in the league’s top 5 scorers.
Atlético’s top scorer Antoine Griezmann, who scored 16 goals last season, is 33 and could start to see his form decline in the coming seasons, while Atlético have sold second-best scorer Alvaro Morata, who scored 15 goals in the last League. season, he was transferred to AC Milan.
Despite Alvarez’s price tag, some argue he’s worth even more. According to CIES Football Observatory estimates for June 2024, Alvarez was valued at around $183 million, almost double what Atlético could pay for him. Alvarez was the seventh most valuable player on the CIES list, which was surpassed by Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.
With age and potential having a big impact on value, Alvarez was one of three players over 23 to crack the top 10, but at 24, he’s in the first round. City are ready to let him go because they don’t want to keep unhappy players at the club against their will, but his contract in Manchester would still last until 2028 and that long contract adds significantly to his estimated transfer fee.
Given Alvarez’s price tag, he has been compared to Joao Felix, who was bought by Atlético for a huge fee but failed to live up to his potential. Unlike Félix, Alvarez has already shown that he can perform at the highest level.

Alvarez not only scored 19 goals, but also had 13 assists last season. He did this while having to play in different positions to accommodate the other star players of the city.
If his general statistics are compared to other strikers, then his goal record is not that impressive, but this is mainly due to the fact that Alvarez is often used in the midfield rather than as a main striker.
If he plays like a center every week, his production could be higher. According to Transfermarkt, he averaged 0.63 goals per 90 minutes as a striker, compared to 0.43 penalty goals per 90 minutes last year in all positions. However, it should be noted that Pep Guardiola did not often play Alvarez in the biggest games last season, and when he played against the biggest clubs, he did not score. The highest profile teams he scored against in 2023/24 were Brighton and Hove Albion, Newcastle United and RB Leipzig, although he also scored against Real Madrid and Liverpool in 2022/23.