A River Plate chief has explained how close Julian Alvarez came to signing for Real Madrid.
The 22-year-old was linked with a move to La Liga prior to confirming his transfer to Manchester City, while rivals Manchester United were also believed to be interested in the youngster. The highly-rated forward eventually ended up joining City on the final day of the January transfer window.
Alvarez is yet to meet up with his new teammates after City agreed to let him stay with the Argentinian outfit to compete in this year's Copa Libertadores. With a Premier League debut for Alvarez to look forward to, River Plate's vice president Matias Patanian has revealed how close the striker came to moving to La Liga following an approach from Real Madrid.
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He told El Chiringuito : "Really, Madrid sounded very loud, even here. No, no, City came directly a few months ago and we were able to really get Julian to be sold but have him staying."
Patanian even revealed that Alvarez had a trial with Real, adding: "He did a trial at Madrid, but I think he’s of River."
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