Milan, Inter, Napoli, and Fiorentina were in the running to sign Julian Alvarez, but Manchester City will come out on top. The English club will pay fewer than his €25M release clause. They will leave him on loan to River Plate, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports.
Juventus sent a scout to watch a few games too. However, Italian teams were keen on him for the next summer. Instead, Los Millonarios wanted to get a deal done in January as they were looking to avoid getting too close to the end of his contract. The two sides have yet to finalize the agreement, but it should be only a matter of days at this point.
Former Nerazzurri executive Marco Branca, who is now part of the First agency, commented on the Argentinian sensation: “I thought Julian Alvarez would join Fiorentina, if not directly Inter or Milan. He reminds me of a young Diego Milito. He will learn how to play as a pure no.9 in Europe too. There is no doubt that he is one of the best strikers of his generation. In the past, Serie A teams could have invested €20M and waited for a player. Nowadays, they are lacking the resources to do it.”
The representative weighed in on Juventus potentially signing Dusan Vlahovic: “It would be a coup if they pulled off the signings, but there will be some difficulties. The Viola need to find a replacement, but I do not think Sassuolo will sell Gianluca Scamacca in January.”