Argentina and Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez is on his way to joining La Liga club side Atletico Madrid after they agreed a £81.5M deal to bring the Manchester City striker to the Spanish capital. 

The sale is potentially Manchester City’s biggest club record sale as it will overtake the £50m they sold Raheem Sterling to Chelsea in 2022. Julian Alvarez had insisted that he will seek more playing time elsewhere rather than stay at Etihad Stadium.

However, Pep Guardiola was keen to keep the 24-year-old at the club but despite playing 36 of 38 Premier League matches as Manchester City won the Premier League last season, he felt he deserved more playing time.

In his first season, he played 20 matches, although the majority of them were as a substitute as he played second fiddle to Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, and later Jeremy Doku.

He had stated he would make his decision on his destination after the end of Argentina’s Olympic games participation and after they were knocked out by France last Friday, Alvarez is already sorting out his next moves.

It’s a big deal for Manchester City, who only signed him from River Plate in 2022, paying only £14.1m for him. He scored 36 goals in 106 appearances, winning the treble in his first season, a World Cup in 2022 followed by a Copa America title this summer, and a Premier League title last season.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola had hoped that he would keep the player longer at the Etihad Stadium, but he and City chose not to stand against the player’s wishes to leave, and he will move to Atletico before the end of the season.

“I count on him, but he said in the news that decisions will be made all together,” said Guardiola.