Man City star on the move? Atletico Madrid's sneaky plot to convince Julian Alvarez to make La Liga switch revealed

Alvarez joined City from River Plate in the summer of 2022 and has shown a lot of promise under Pep Guardiola. However, the Argentine has not been able to make a proper stay in the Spaniard's starting XI due to the presence of Erling Haaland up top. The 24-year-old has also been a major target for Barcelona as they look to replace Robert Lewandowski, however, their poor economic situation means that they are not even close to being in the race.

According to Marca, Diego Simeone wants to add a young striker to his ranks after a below-par season for the Rojiblancos and his eyes are set on Alvarez. As per the report, Atletico do not believe that City or Alvarez himself would want to part ways, however, the Spanish side have asked Alvarez's Argentina team-mates Rodrigo De Paul, Nahuel Molina and Angel Correa to try and convince him to make the switch as they join forces for the Copa America over the summer.

Atletico have also been said to be interested in Villarreal's Alexander Sorloth and Girona's Artem Dovbyk. However, the Swede only moved to La Ceramica last season and the Yellow Submarine would only allow him to leave if a club triggers his €38 million (£32m/$41m) release clause. As for Dovbyk, he won the prestige of being the league's top scorer over the season and Girona will not be willing to let him leave for anything less than €40m (£34m/$44m).

The signing is still unlikely to go through at least this summer, but, following Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid, City have reportedly stepped up their efforts to sign Rodrygo from Los Blancos. As such, if Alvarez falls lower down the pecking order, he could be enticed into making the move away from the Etihad.