Man City striker Julian Alvarez is edging closer to a summer move to Real Madrid with the transfer ‘on track’, according to reports.
The Citizens won their fourth consecutive Premier League title on the final day of last season with Pep Guardiola’s side beating Arsenal to first place by two points.
That further cemented Guardiola as one of the best managers the English top flight has ever seen amid speculation that he could leave at the end of his contract in 2025.
There have also been links to the England manager’s job after Gareth Southgate and some of Guardiola’s top stars have been linked with a move away this summer.
Alvarez, Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Jack Grealish are among the players who have been linked with a move away before the end of the window.
It was initially reported that Man City are looking for around £60m for Alvarez but a recent report claimed they have dropped their price to £40m as they look to sell an unhappy player before the end of August.
There have been claims that Alvarez is frustrated at his minutes under Guardiola and the Man City striker recently insisted that he “will decide” his future after the Olympics.
The Argentina international said: “There is a lot of talk.
“I am focused here [at the Olympics] because it is a short tournament. At Manchester City I feel very good, I played a lot of minutes.
“But we will see after the Games. First, if I can, I will take a few days off. Then we will decide.”
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And now reports in Spain claim that Alvarez is set to wave ‘goodbye’ to Man City and Guardiola with a transfer to Real Madrid understood to be ‘on track’ this summer.
Alvarez is ‘working’ to get a move to the Bernabeu with the 24-year-old ‘not happy at the English club’ as he ‘wants to feel truly important’ and have ‘an undisputed starting role’.
There have been reports that Arsenal and Chelsea are hoping to sign the Argentina international but it’s claimed that Real Madrid are now the club ‘most interested in signing him’.
Alvarez ‘will help’ get Man City to ‘lower their financial demands and negotiate with the Spanish club’ as the striker has ‘always wanted to play’ for Real Madrid.
Speaking after hearing Alvarez’s comments earlier this week, Guardiola said: “I don’t think about replacing. I knew he said he will think about it,’ he said.
“Once he has finished thinking, his agent will call Txiki [Begiristain] and we will see what happens.
“I know he wants to play important moments, yeah. ‘But the other ones [do] too. 18, 19 players as well want to play the big games.
“I read he wants to think about it. Okay, think about it and after that he will inform us what he wants to do.”
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano isn’t expecting a concrete update on Alvarez’s future at Man City until after Argentina are knocked out of the Olympics.
Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “There’s no substantial update yet on Julián Álvarez and nothing to say before the end of the Olympics.
“He wants to play more and Man City want to keep Julián, but that remains the same story as I revealed in June.
“After the Olympics, Julián and his agents will talk to Man City and we will see if there are any more developments.”