All you need to know about Julian Alvarez: The 21-year old River Plate striker on his way to Man City
By Jim James
Hello everyone, welcome back to the blog. According to Fabrizio Romano, Julian Alvarez is going to sign for Manchester City this month and get loaned back to River Plate until July. In this post I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about the Argentine forward making the move to Europe.
- He was born in Cordoba
Julian Alvarez was born on January 31 2000 in Calchin, Cordoba, Argentina. Argentine football blog Zyri reports that he was nicknamed “The Spider” in Calchin, a city now branded as the birthplace of the 21-year old. He played for Club Atlético Calchin, a knockoff club of River Plate, until he was 15 and was spotted by the actual, real, River Plate in 2016.
- He scored 56 goals in a season for Club Atlético Calchin
One of Julian Alvarez’s teammates recall a season when he was playing for Calchin when he scored 56 in a season! He also remembers that the tactics weren’t exactly on Pep Guardiola level saying that “The technician always told us, when they have the ball, they give it to the spider”. They stood there in awe of Alvarez’s solo dribbling moves when he was bearing down on goal. So he was a goal machine from a young age
- Julian Alvarez could have signed for Boca or Real Madrid
In 2015 and 2016, when Julian Alvarez’s talents for Calchin were being spotted, 3 big clubs were looking at signing him; River Plate, of course, Boca Juniors, and Real Madrid. He played for Boca in a youth tournament but was rejected for reasons I can’t find, and he also trialed for Real Madrid, but according to TycSports, he violated a club policy about underage players, and furthermore didn’t want to move all the way to Spain. However, in 2016, he signed his first youth contract with River Plate and the rest is history.
- His first team debut came relatively late
Julian Alvarez made his first team debut for River Plate on October 27 2018 against Aldosivi, at 18 years and 9 months old. For a future Argentina NT star, that’s late. He even got going pretty late as well, with his rise in 2021 being completely unprecidented. It’s like if Kaide Gordon started challenging Mo Salah and Sadio Mane for spots in the Liverpool front 3.
- He’s already a very decorated player at 21
Despite his career just getting started, “The Spider” is already one of the most decorated players in Argentina, with a vast array of honors at club, international, and individual level. The highlights? A Primeira League Title, a Copa Argentina title, a Primeira League top Scorer award, the 2021 South American Footballer of the Year award, a Copa Libertadores, and a Copa America title. Note he’s about to join Man City, he hasn’t already joined Man City and he has all these awards
- He’s very small for a Striker
Strikers are known to be around 5’8” (1.76m) in height, with most of the best in the world being above that height. However, Alvarez is one of the smallest strikers in the Primeira League, at just 5’5”. However, he makes up for his lack of heading ability with his exceptional dribbling ability, pace, and shooting. I wouldn’t be surprised if Pep converts him to play more on the wings.
- Man U were chasing his signature first
The move by Man City for Julian Alvarez could be counted as a hijack. At the start of this window, Man City were the Manchester team 2nd most linked to him. Previously, Manchester United were looking for his signature, with many sources reporting that Julian Alvarez’s agent and Manchester United were in contact. Even Orlando City were linked more heavily to him than the Sky Blues. In many respects, this is a shocker.
That covers everything Man City fans should know about their (likely) newest signing, Julian Alvarez. I hope this was all the info you wanted, I’m Jim James, until next time.