Rumour Mongering: Atletico Shoot Down Alvarez Links
The Madrid club have no intention of letting their new star striker leave for Liverpool
With the Premier League title all but wrapped up, but an early Champions League exit and a Carabao Cup final loss to Newcastle in the space of a week souring the experience of Arne Slot’s debut season somewhat, many fans are beginning to look forward to the summer transfer window, and how — pending the potential retention of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold — considerable the outlay and turnover will be as the new head coach begins to shape his squad.
Despite perhaps being the most well-stocked and arguably successful position group in the team, Liverpool’s forward line is full of question marks heading into the window, as the immediate future of five of the six players that make it up is unclear as of yet. As such, shortlists of forwards across the attacking band are being drawn up, not only by eager fans, but in all likelihood by the club as well.
One such name is Julian Alvarez, who just this weekend was claimed to be in the Reds’ sights, to the tune of an £80m bid meant to bring the Argentinian back to the English shores on which he won everything there is to win in his previous two-year stint.
The former Manchester City man left for Atleti this summer and has been in phenomenal form, scoring 23 and assisting five across all competitions — including ones against title rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona — racking up a goal involvement every 104 minutes on average. Pacy, dynamic, technically proficient on and wonderfully hard-working off the ball, the 25-year old World Cup winner can play in any of the main positions in a front three, and would likely improve the Liverpool side, depending on who he is tasked with replacing.
It always felt like a stretch, however, and the Spaniards’ sporting director Carlos Busero today rubbished the reports, saying: “The talk about Liverpool submitting an official offer to sign our player Julian Alvarez is incorrect. What is being circulated is just rumours. Alvarez is a key and important player in our project, and we have no intention of letting him go. The player himself is not paying attention to these rumours.”
In short, tempting a target as Alvarez is, Liverpool fans will probably be better off moving onto the next one, as their dreams of next year’s kit purchase begin to take shape.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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