They don’t officially play in a team yet, but Julian Alvarez sends six hearty greetings from South America to Erling Haaland, his opponent of the new season at Manchester City.

Six goals: Julian Alvarez (22) from River Plate Buenos Aires scored six goals in the group game of the Copa Libertadores, the South American Champions League, in the 8-1 win against Alianza Lima from Peru. According to “Sport-Bild”, only Juan Carlos Sanchez from Club Blooming in Bolivia had been able to do this 37 years ago!

Loaner coming back: Alvarez is currently on loan at River Plate and will return to Manchester City in the summer. The Skyblues signed the Argentine in January 2022 for 17 million euros, but immediately loaned him to Buenos Aires. In 2022, Alvarez scored 14 goals in 17 competitive games and prepared four goals.

Fight for striker spot: In the summer he will fight for a place in the center of attack with ManCity newcomer Erling Haaland. Even if Alvarez has the worse cards there, he could benefit from Haaland’s injury susceptibility and step in if necessary. The Norwegian has missed ten Bundesliga games this season due to injuries.