Argentine newspaper Olé today brings all the details of the operation which is taking River Plate star Julian Alvarez to Manchester City.
In a long story, in which they describe the meeting between the clubs which sealed the deal, the outlet confirms the numbers involved in the transfer, clarifying the mixed claims we’ve been getting in the past few days.
It’s said Manchester City are paying a gross fee of €21.411.500, from which 25.95% will be taken up by taxes and other associated costs.
River Plate are then keeping €17m, as they also have to pay Alvarez’s former club, Atalaya de Córdoba, a share of 15%, which ended up being agreed for US$1m.
Now the most interesting claim in Olé’s story is what Manchester City fans are waiting for, which is the date when the 21-year-old will actually make his move to the Premier League side.
The striker is, at first, staying at River Plate until the middle of the year. Then that shall depend on the club’s campaign in Copa Libertadores. If they get through the round-of-16, for which the second leg is played on the 6th of July, then he’s staying until the end of the year. If they get knocked-out by then, he’s moving to England in the summer.
There’s also a clause which says that in case the Buenos Aires side do get through the Copa Libertadores’ advanced stages and Manchester City still want to take him to Europe in the summer, then a clause of €1.5m must be triggered by the Premier League side.
That doesn’t sound like Pep Guardiola’s plan. Olé makes it clear that the manager could have added him to the squad now if he wanted to, as Alvarez has enough appearances in top tournaments to get a work permit.
It’s claimed that Manchester City’s plan is to have the striker available in the summer of 2023, when contracts of a few of their attackers will expire.
Olé also claims that the deal for Alvarez should be announced by the clubs before Friday, so there’s time to sort the bureaucratic details before the end of the transfer window.
