Atletico Madrid close to signing Julian Alvarez from Manchester City

Atlético Madrid are close to finalising a deal to sign Manchester City forward Julián Álvarez.

City are thought to want more than £70 million for the Argentine striker and the two clubs are now working out a payment structure which would see City make a substantial profit on the £14 million they paid River Plate for the 24-year-old in 2022.

Atlético have just signed Norway striker Alexander Sørloth from Villarreal for around £27 million but want to further bolster their attack with Álvarez, who is keen on the move.

Álvarez, who has also attracted interest from Paris St-Germain, has been competing at the Olympics for Argentina, who were beaten in the quarter-finals by France in Bordeaux on Friday.

He has scored 36 goals in 103 appearances over two seasons for City and won the World Cup in 2022 with Argentina.

Álvarez recently sparked a dispute with City manager Pep Guardiola after expressing disappointment at being left out of some of his side’s bigger games.

“Last season, I was one of the players with the most minutes at City. But … you don’t like being left out of important matches, you want to contribute,” Álvarez, 24, said.

“I’ll take my time to think about what I want for myself. We will see after the Games. First, if I can, I will take a few days off. Then we will decide.”

Álvarez’s remarks drew a blunt response from Guardiola, who said: “I don’t think about replacing. I knew he said he will think about it.

“Once he has finished thinking, his agent will call Txiki [Begiristain, the City director of football] and we will see what happens. I know he wants to play important moments, yeah. But the other ones do too.

“I read he wants to think about it. OK, think about it and after that he will inform us what he wants to do.”

Álvarez responded by reputedly telling TyC Sports he “didn’t say anything bad” and said he was “comfortable and happy” at City.