Manchester City forward emerges as transfer target for Real Madrid despite Kylian Mbappe priority

La Liga giants Real Madrid have reportedly identified Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez as a name for their transfer shortlist, despite their priorities being elsewhere.

The 23-year-old is fresh off the back of perhaps the most successful campaign achievable in world football, having won the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and FA Cup with Manchester City, accompanied by a triumph at the FIFA World Cup with Argentina.

Julian Alvarez has started the brand new campaign in similar fashion too, having claimed the UEFA Super Cup with his Manchester City teammates whilst scoring two goals and providing an assist across his six appearances so far.

Despite his ever-presence in starting line-ups this season, Julian Alvarez continues to be linked with future moves away, largely due to the immovable object up-front for Pep Guardiola’s side that is Erling Haaland.

The latest of those links sees Manchester City’s Argentina international forward tied with a possible transfer to La Liga, and to a team he had trials with as a youngster alongside his brief cameo in an attempt to impress those at Boca Juniors.

That is according to the information of Argentine journalist Uriel Iugt, who states it is true that Real Madrid have Julian Alvarez ‘in the folder’, but until now there have been no contacts concerning the Manchester City striker.

It is clarified that at this present moment, the ‘goal’ of Los Blancos remains the signing of Paris Saint-Germain and France international forward Kylian Mbappe – as has largely been the case for a number of seasons.

But what is the feeling from Julian Alvarez himself?

It is made very clear that the Argentine striker is currently ‘very happy and very comfortable’ at Manchester City, and even more so now that he is starting under Pep Guardiola more frequently during the opening stages of the ongoing campaign.

For now, it is widely believed to be very unlikely that Manchester City would sanction the sale of Julian Alvarez to any side highly-placed in European football, and those within the Etihad believe he has a part to play in the club’s future for years to come.

Less than 12 months into his Manchester City career and officials within the City Football Academy felt it worthy to reward Julian Alvarez with a fresh contract, as the former River Plate forward penned an extension through to the summer of 2028 last March.

While City have been linked to the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion’s Evan Ferguson – who is impressing plenty of onlookers with his performances this season in particular – the understanding is that transfer bosses and coaches at the Premier League champions remain more than content with their options in striking positions.