Manchester City agree to sell Julián Álvarez to Atlético Madrid in €95m deal

Manchester City have agreed a deal worth up to €95m (£81.5m) with Atlético Madrid for the striker Julián Álvarez, a record sale for the club. The Premier League champions are due to receive an initial €75m that could rise based on numerous clauses, as the Spanish side work to settle personal terms with the Argentinian.

The World Cup winner has been eager to be a more significant player because, despite making 54 appearances and scoring 19 goals last season for City, he was seen as Erling Haaland’s understudy and rarely got to start in his preferred No 9 role when the Norwegian was fit.

It could be a busy few days for Atlético, who have agreed a £33m fee with Chelsea for the midfielder Conor Gallagher. Álvarez would become the second striker in this window to join Atlético, who have also bought Alexander Sørloth from Villarreal. They have also brought in defender Robin Le Normand from Real Sociedad.

City are in line to make a healthy profit on the 24-year-old Álvarez, who joined in 2022 from River Plate for an initial £14m. Since then he has won every major competition he could in world football, including the Premier League, Champions League, Copa América and World Cup.

City’s previous record sale was the £55m earned from the departure of Ferran Torres for Barcelonaand Pep Guardiola has said they would seek signings only someone leaves. Considering the number of minutes Álvarez played last season, it is likely City will enter the market, their only senior signing this summer is the forward Savinho from Troyes.

Álvarez is resting after a busy summer during which he won the Copa América before helping Argentina reach the quarter-finals of the Olympics, where they lost to France.

City face Manchester United in the Community Shield on Saturday before starting their Premier League campaign at Chelsea the following Sunday.