Man City want Julián Álvarez - River Plate in negotiations to sign Ezequiel Barco

Manchester City have made a significant step towards signing River Plate super talent Julián Álvarez. Several Argentine media outlets reported that a deal was close on Friday and that only final details have to be cleared. 

The television station TyC Sports reported that Man City have already made two offers to River Plate to sign the striker. One is for an immediate transfer in January; a second would be for a deal to be completed in the summer. The first offer includes a loan to another European club or another half-season at River Plate, and it is supposed to guarantee playing time before Álvarez joins Pep Guardiola's team. 

Neither offer meets the €20 million exit clause in Álvarez's contract, which runs until the end of the 2022 season. The sum, however, is high enough for River Plate to be willing to continue talks with the Premier League champions. Olé also confirmed negotiations and reported that there will be a sell-on clause anchored in the contract. 

Manchester City are just one of many teams interested in Álvarez

Álvarez has become a star at River Plate and broke into the national team. His goalscoring prowess has been, in particular, impressive. The striker scored 18 goals (nine assists) in 21 games to win the Liga Profesional golden boot. The list of clubs interested has become longer and longer. Man City aside, Real Madrid, both Milan clubs AC and Inter, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, and Ajax are all interested in Álvarez. 

River Plate, in the meantime, were hopeful that they could convince Álvarez to renew his contract. Otherwise, the young star is open to negotiating a free transfer with any club starting next summer without informing his current club. According to Olé, the contract clause that would increase his fee by another €5 million ahead of the end of the transfer window shutting is not impacted by the international window but by the domestic window only. That window closes on Feb. 19 and will, therefore, not affect an international transfer. 

The transfer negotiations have also impacted other clubs. River Plate are interested in bringing back Shenzhen FC forward Juan Fernando Quintero. Another candidate is Atlanta United, attacking midfielder Ezequiel Barco. The 22-year-old joined the Major League Soccer side for $13.5 million from Independiente in 2018. Barco was the most expensive transfer in league history at the time and, with a market value of $11 million, is the league's second most valuable player. Atlanta United need to move Barco to make room for new signing Thiago Almada (Velez Sarsfield).