Who is Julián Álvarez?

River Plate's young sensation has been attracting the interest of everyone from Aston Villa to Real Madrid. But what kind of a player is he?

Álvarez comes from the tiny town of Calchin, with a population of just 2,500 people about 100 kilometres east of the city of Córdoba. It's not a city with many famous teams like Buenos Aires, Rosario, or La Plata, so it's no surprise that Julián Álvarez had to look further afield to kickstart his football career. 

At a young age, Álvarez already attracted the interest of Real Madrid but was too young to sign for the Spanish giants despite impressing during a trial at the tender age of 11. Trials followed at home later with Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors, but he eventually ended up at River Plate – the club he has supported since he was a boy

Álvarez stands out due to his quick, tricky feet and having the knack to be in the right place at the right time. He operates somewhere between a winger and a striker, leading to him being dubbed as Argentina's answer to Thomas Müller, who would probably call him 'Julián Go-Álvarez'.

It would be accurate too, as the River Plate forward grows so do his contributions. In October 2018, at the age of just 18, he made his debut for River against Aldosivi but had to wait until March 2019 to get his first goal against Independiente. However, his numbers have been steadily improving and just last week he scored four against Patronato to send him top of the Argentinian league's scoring charts. Álvarez also bagged a hat-trick against San Lorenzo, a brace against Boca Juniors, and another brace against Newell's Old Boys – a game in which he also assisted two other goals.

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni was impressed with Álvarez's form to hand the 21-year old his Argentina debut against Chile back in June, when he come on as a substitute for Ángel di María. Since then, Álvarez has been called up for every Argentina squad, although he's yet to start a game something that is only a matter of time.

Destined for big things

Julián's name has been linked with an almost countless number of clubs including Bayer Leverkusen, Sevilla, Real Madrid, and even Aston Villa. 

But it's in Italy where he seems to be most wanted. AC Milan and Juventus are apparently closely monitoring the player, while Fiorentina's scouting director – former Argentina player Nicolás Burdisso – has said that he's the one player in Argentina most ready to move to Europe.

The forward has a contract with River Plate until December 2022, and his team are keen to renew with him to avoid losing the player for free. Álvarez's current contract ends at the end of next year, it includes a minimum release fee of just €20,000,000, so it wouldn't be a surprise for a big club to activate it and get first dibs on Argentina's latest prodigy.