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By Martin Graham | 17th Mar 2023
2022 FIFA World Cup winner Julian Alvarez has signed a one-year extension at Manchester City in just under a year if joining the club.
The 23-year-old signed for the Premier League defending champions in January 2022 but stayed back at his boyhood club, River Plate in Argentina, from where he was signed for the rest of the season.
He joined up with the City squad in July of 2022 along with Erling Haaland, giving Pep Guardiola a huge boost in the striker department after going a full Premier League season without an out-and-out striker – and winning.
He signed a five-year contract that sees him earn around £50,000-a-week until 2027 but following his impressive debut season and his outing for Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar last December, the club have rewarded him with a one-year extension and a salary increase that will now see him earn around £100,000-a-week until 2028.
Alvarez, who has 10 goals in 33 appearances across all competitions for the Cityzens despite playing second fiddle to Haaland for most of the season, was already attracting interest from the big boys in Europe.
Paris Saint-Germain were said to be looking to bring him to the Parc De Princes in their bid to please Lionel Messi, while El Clasico rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid were looking at signing him as an option to boost their squad ahead of next season.
The former River Plate man, however, is excited to have earned a contract extension in just under a year at the Premier League giants and says that it is a proud moment in his career.
“Me and my family are proud after arriving at the Club, how everyone has taken care of us, and now to have the chance to extend my contract is something very important to me,” Alvarez said.
“There’s been so much in a short time. I’ve always been trying to adapt and be ready to experience all kinds of situations in life.
“I’ve been through wonderful things and lots of emotions. I’ve learned, and I’ve grown as a person and also as a football player, which is one of the most important things.”
Alvarez then spoke about his experience with the English game, one year after.
He did not need much time to adapt and he hopes he can succeed with the club and become even more prominent in the starting XI in the course of his Manchester City career.
“There are lots of different things, but there are some similarities too, which makes things a bit easier,” he added. “The rhythm of the game, the transitions, and some tactics are different, but in the end, it’s football.
“It is what I’ve been doing all my life, since I was a kid, as long as I can remember, if there’s a ball around, I will be happy and enjoy.
“When it comes to the adaptation, it was easy because I moved from one of the greatest clubs in [South] America to one of the greatest clubs in Europe, which have a lot in common. That made things easier.”
Alvarez also pledged to give everything he has to help Manchester City achieve set goals for the remainder of the season and beyond.
Martin Graham is an MFF sports writer
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