Julian Alvarez’s phone kept ringing, every day. It was Rodrigo de Paul, then Antoine Griezmann, then Giuliano Simeone, Diego Simeone’s son. Behind every call was the Atletico manager himself, firing messages into Alvarez’s phone during the Copa America and the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024. The World Cup-winning Argentina striker, fresh from clinching the Premier League with Manchester City, had to beg for it to stop. “Tell your dad to stop calling,” Alvarez told Giuliano. He was coming, so could they all back off?
Alvarez grew up in Calchin, a town of 3,000 in Cordoba province. His brother Rafael nicknamed him ‘La Aranita’ — the Little Spider — because on the neighbourhood pitch no-one could get the ball off him. At 11 he had a trial with Real Madrid but returned home. At 15, River Plate scout Juanjo Borrelli brought him to Buenos Aires, where he broke through quickly. A standout Copa Libertadores game — six goals in an 8-1 win over Alianza Lima — announced him to the world. Playing at River Plate, where winning is an obligation, forged his competitive instinct: “Once you’re at River,” he said, “you can never lose a game without it hurting you.”
He moved to Manchester City in January 2022, winning the Champions League in his debut season under Pep Guardiola at age 23. Then the calls began. Atletico offered a project with him at its centre; Alvarez wanted to feel wanted. Simeone told him he could “give the club something huge” and have the space to be his best. The presence of fellow Argentines, the language and culture all helped. In August 2024 Atletico confirmed the deal — €95m (£81.5m), a club record received by City, and a six-year contract — announced with a Spiderman video that Alvarez loved. Paris St-Germain reportedly offered up to £8.7m a year, but Alvarez chose Atletico.
His background keeps him grounded: a father who worked in a cereal factory, a mother who was a schoolteacher, and a belief that respect must be earned. He presses from the front and sprints back to win the ball; Simeone, who rarely singles out individuals, makes exceptions for him.
Across two seasons in red and white he has made 102 appearances and scored 47 goals. His La Liga numbers this season have been modest — eight goals in 29 appearances and just one in 2026 — with a strike against Oviedo in late February ending a run of 14 league games without a goal (his previous league goal came against Sevilla on 1 November). But the Champions League has been different: nine goals in 12 appearances this season.
Last week he produced one of his most complete European performances. In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at the Camp Nou against Barcelona, Alvarez provided the assist that led to Pau Cubarsi’s red card and then curled in a quality free-kick. He was man of the match. It is no surprise Barcelona are linked with replacing an ageing Robert Lewandowski and an inconsistent Ferran Torres with Alvarez. He has a €500m (£435m) release clause, and Atletico say they will not sell for less than €100m (£87m) — a fee Barcelona’s current finances cannot support. Club president Enrique Cerezo said: “He has a contract with Atletico Madrid.”
Alvarez has been typically guarded about transfer talk. “I’m happy here,” he said, but added, “I don’t know. You never know.” The Champions League run may decide everything. If Atletico eliminate Barcelona to reach the semi-finals, the argument for staying strengthens — this is a club that can win things. If Atletico get knocked out, having taken a 2-0 advantage to the Camp Nou, he might reconsider whether he is at the right club.
