Atletico Madrid star played key role in orchestrating Julian Alvarez’s arrival from Manchester City

In the next 24-48 hours, Julian Alvarez will sign in as an Atletico Madrid. Manchester City accepted a €95m offer for the Argentine attacker last week, and the matter will be fully resolved in the coming days – and crucially for Los Colchoneros, before their first match of the season against Villarreal.

La Araña arrives in Madrid today, and many Atleti fans are expected to welcome him at the airport.😍🕷️ pic.twitter.com/2WFrJwIaWW

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) August 11, 2024

Atleti set their stall out for Alvarez early on in the summer, and this was known by Alvarez himself. It was also communicated to Rodrigo De Paul, who took the opportunity to sell the 24-year-old on the move during their time together at the Copa America.

As per Diario AS, De Paul acted as a go-between with Atleti, Diego Simeone and Alvarez. Nahuel Molina also played his part, but it was the midfielder that had a more hands-on role in the matter.

It will be very interesting to see how Alvarez gets on at Atletico Madrid. His arrival could see Simeone switch to a 3-4-3 system, with Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sorloth accompanying him in attack. Equally, he could be more a rotation option at first, before succeeding Griezmann in the long run.