Julian Alvarez exclusive: Man City's serial trophy-winner opens up on his perfect year, World Cup glory with 'idol' Lionel Messi & why Pep Guardiola's relentless squad aren't satisfied with last season's treble

In fact, he is setting his sights on yet another treble this season and firmly believes City can pull it off. "Yes, obviously I think we can," Alvarez tells GOAL in an exclusive interview. "In the final few months of the season, we’re fighting for all the competitions, we’re good as a group and I think we can do it."

The striker's words will be music to Guardiola's ears as the ever-demanding Catalan is also desperate for more success and has shown no interest in throwing in the towel with City any time soon. Alvarez knows that Guardiola will not let him and his team-mates rest on their laurels despite all their achievements, and he insists the squad share their coach's thirst for winning.

"I have that feeling, but it’s not just him and his demands, it’s a bit of us too," Alvarez says. "We’re very competitive and we always want to go for more and that’s what we’re doing this season, trying to do it again."

Alvarez grew up in the town of Calchin in Cordoba province, and from the age of three would play football on the pitch opposite his house with his two brothers, Rafael and Agustin. He grew up supporting River Plate and realised his dream by joining the Millionarios aged 16, after trials with Real Madrid and Boca Juniors.

Alvarez was regarded as a late bloomer and was shifted around the attack, which helped him develop into the versatile player he is today, capable of scoring all sorts of goals, from an thunderous strike at Craven Cottage - which he counts as his favourite effort so far for City - to his improvised finish with his chest against Fluminense.

"I always characterised myself for having this ability to do a bit of everything whenever I enter the pitch and playing in various positions throughout my career, closer to the midfield, sometimes as a centre-forward, sometimes out wide, has helped me a lot to have that ability," he says.

Alvarez won his first major trophy with River in 2018, coming off the bench in the epic Copa Libertadores final against hated rivals Boca Juniors which was transported from Buenos Aires to Madrid due to crowd trouble. But he only started to make a name for himself three years later, when firing River to the Argentine league title - their first in seven years - in 2021 with 20 goals.

His rise had already alerted City, and he signed for the club in January 2022 for just £14 million in what has proven to be one of the greatest bargains in recent years. And he was more than happy to follow in the footsteps of the other great Argentines to play for the club, such as Carlos Tevez, Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis and all-time top scorer Sergio Aguero.

"There have been many players who have triumphed here and done very important things here, so being in Argentina and watching everything City have been doing, I saw them as one of the best clubs in the world over the last few years," Alvarez says. "So when I found out they were interested in me, I never doubted. I think it was a good decision." He can say that again!

Alvarez has built on the success of his Argentine predecessors and he can sense City have gained a big following in his homeland. After all, wearing the same colours as the Argentina flag cannot hurt. City have been parading the five trophies they won in 2023 around the world, and next month the silverware will make a stop off in Buenos Aires.

"It will be very nice for them and it makes me proud that the trophies are going to Argentina and the fans can see them and take photos with them. They are cheering and supporting us from a long way away and the fact that they can have this is very special for them too," Alvarez says.

The striker was not expecting quite so much success with his club or his country when he sealed his move to City on his 22nd birthday, although he knew he would have to raise his game.

"You always imagine and have your dreams and objectives, but I didn’t think about it that way, more step-by-step and what was coming up next,” he says. "The first thing was to score and be on the same level as City. I also knew the World Cup was coming up soon, so I had to be on the same level as Argentina and help them, and in the end everything came off. It was an incredible year and I’m very happy and very proud of everything I did."

Alvarez spent the first six months of 2022 back with River, and when he eventually arrived in Manchester his reputation had been boosted by him scoring six goals in one match against Allianza Lima. Alvarez made a fine start, too, by scoring on his debut for City against Liverpool in the Community Shield.

But he had to get used to starting a lot of matches on the bench as he had the somewhat unfortunate position of competing with Erling Haaland for the centre-forward's role. Guardiola praised him for being so patient and whenever Alvarez got his chance it is fair to say he took it, scoring 17 times in just 23 starts.

"Obviously I knew that it was my first season and the team were doing very well, so I always try to make the most of the minutes I get and that’s how it went, always waiting my turn to help the team, and the relationship with Guardiola is good because of this," Alvarez says.

"Obviously, City are one of the best clubs in the world in the past few years and Guardiola one of the best coaches. I grew up watching Barca in the era of Messi when Pep was coach and I admired him a lot for everything he was doing and achieved there. Having him as a coach is a privilege."

Alvarez has kicked on in his second season and become a vital member of the City team, no longer a substitute and always involved in Guardiola's plans. He has started every Premier League match while only captain Kyle Walker has played more minutes. He is City's second-top scorer behind Haaland with 13 goals, and has also provided seven assists while developing a highly-profitable, 'little and large' partnership with the Norwegian.

"I always say that playing with the best players makes you better. Erling is one of them. There are many influential, top-level players in the team who have been doing very good things for their clubs and their national teams for a long time, and playing with the best players helps you grow, so I’m very proud and happy about that," he says.

"I think that we have demonstrated that together we can do very good things to help the team, you can see it on the pitch, but the statistics show it too in terms of goals and assists."

Haaland was born in the same year as Alvarez, but his other strike partner - Lionel Messi - was already a Champions League winner and Ballon d'Or holder when 'La Arana' was just nine years old. There is a video of a young Alvarez naming Messi as his idol, and a literal dream came true when he met him for the first time at Argentina's training base when he was in the Under-23 side, helping the senior team prepare for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Four years later, the pair were lining up alongside each other for their country in Qatar, forming a devastating partnership that led to Argentina finally lifting the World Cup. "When I was growing up he was my idol and I remember in the training sessions, first in sparring sessions with the senior team, I asked him for a photo, and then when I went to the senior team I got another point of view," Alvarez says fondly of Messi.

"It’s something crazy but also really nice and I try to enjoy every moment playing with him. I’m very proud of everything we’ve achieved with the national team in this time and which he got after searching for it for so long." Just like with City, Alvarez sees no reason why Argentina cannot taste more glory at the Copa America later this year. "Obviously we're going to try and do it again," he remarks.

And he hopes Messi will be leading the team in the United States, as well as at the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. "It will depend on him, but I think if he wants to he can do it comfortably," he says. The next question is obvious and so is the answer. "We all want him to continue as well."

Messi and Alvarez's most effective game together was the in the World Cup semi-final, when they were both architects of the sensational 3-0 win over Croatia. Alvarez won the penalty which Messi converted to get Argentina off to the perfect start, and then the City striker made a blistering individual run from his own half to score the second, a scrappier version of Diego Maradona's iconic goal against England.

The dream performance was capped off when Messi fed Alvarez to score again and seal Argentina's place in the final. As such Alvarez cannot help but smile when the game is mentioned.

"It's one of the most emblematic games of my career, for what a semi-final represents, reaching the final and I scored two goals and won a penalty. It was a proud moment, a dream match and afterwards we topped it off by winning the World Cup, so it was even more incredible." And what of the celebrations in Buenos Aires, when an estimated two million people turned out to greet their returning heroes?

"Also incredible. To return to Argentina and all the people waiting for us, the streets were full, everyone was really happy, it was what the country needed and it was a lovely moment."

Having become a world champion with his country at the age of 22, Alvarez became a club champion at the age of 23 when he spearheaded City's routing of Fluminense. He had missed out on the Club World Cup with River Plate in 2018 as they failed to make the final, and he acknowledged he had been motivated by a sense of unfinished business.

"We weren’t able to win in 2018 so I saw it as an opportunity for revenge and a title that City didn’t have. Doing it in the final, helping the team with two goals was beautiful, something we’ll never forget and something historic for the club," he says.

City will be back on the world stage when the expanded Club World Cup takes place in the United States in 2025, and there is a good chance he could face an emotional reunion with River Plate, who are set to be one of the representatives of South America. But would he want to face them?. Not for the first time in the interview, Alvarez responds immediately with one word: "Obviously."

He adds: "As a fan, I wish River all the best and I always hope they do well so it would be great for us to be there too." A quick look at Alvarez's career so far indicates that dream reunion is pretty likely to happen. More often than not he has got what he wanted, and a whole lot more.