Manchester City sign River Plate striker Julian Alvarez

New Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez celebrates the championship obtained after the match between River Plate and Racing Club at the Antonio Vespucio Liberti stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 25, 2021. (Photo by Manuel Cortina/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Manchester City had a quiet January transfer window but they managed to secure a signing for the here and now.

Pep Guardiola’s side reached an agreement with Argentinian club River Plate to sign their striker Julian Alvarez.

According to Sky Sports, City agreed to pay River Plate somewhere in the neighborhood of €17 million for the 21-year-old who signed a five-year-deal. However, he is set to stay at River Plate on loan for the remainder of the season.

Manchester City also released an official statement confirming the signing. City’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain was full of praise for their new player.

“Julian is a player we have monitored for some time,” Begiristain said. “He is capable of operating in a number of attacking roles, and we firmly believe he’s one of the best young attacking players in South America.

“I am so happy we have managed to bring him to Manchester City. I really believe we can provide him with the right conditions to fulfil his potential and become a top player.”

One of the criticisms levied against City at the start of the season was the lack of a proper striker. They declined on re-signing Sergio Aguero who left to join Barcelona on a free before he was forced to retire.

They tried to sign Tottenham’s Harry Kane but those negotiations went nowhere as Tottenham had no intention on letting Kane leave despite the player believing they had a deal to let him depart should he choose so.

The lack of a striker hasn’t hurt City so far this season. They currently sit in first place in the Premier League, nine and 10 points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea, respectively. They’re also second in goals scored with 55. Only Liverpool, with 58, have more.

With Erling Haaland likely to cost an arm and a leg and with almost every big team in Europe vying for him, City get ahead of the game and avoid breaking the bank for Alvarez. It’ll look even more of a bargain if he arrives and storms out of the gate.