Aston Villa are ‘in the front row’ for River Plate winger Julian Alvarez amid interest from a host of other clubs including Tottenham Hotspur.
That’s according to Calciomercato, who claim that Alvarez is a wanted man ahead of the January transfer window.
The report compares Alvarez to a spider, suggesting that it is impossible to snatch the ball away from him.
A comparison is made to Ante Rebic, with AC Milan keen. They wanted Alvarez, but a €25million (£21million) release clause put them off.
Now Alvarez is nearing the final year of his River contract, clubs believe he could come much cheaper.
Villa are back in the race, with Tottenham, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla also claimed to be keen.
Villa chased Alvarez over the summer
Alvarez, 21, has excelled for River Plate. With 11 goals and 11 assists in his last 35 games, Alvarez is becoming a star.
Villa have been a main contender in the race for Alvarez for months now.
ESPN reported in August that Alvarez had rejected a move to Orlando City because his agent was in talks with Villa.
No move materialised in the end, but it’s no great surprise that Villa are in the hunt again.
There appears to be much more competition now than there was even two months ago.
For Villa to win this race, they will need Alvarez to fancy joining force with compatriots Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia – and that could well happen given Villa’s long-term admiration.
Alvarez picks up new nickname
Alvarez destroyed Boca Juniors on Sunday night, scoring a brace in a superb 2-1 win for River.
Teammate Nicolas De La Cruz has now branded Alvarez ‘El Nino Maravilla’ – The Wonder Child.
That was Alexis Sanchez’s nickname back in the day, but Alvarez has now taken that tag.
If Alvarez can reach the heights of Sanchez’s best, he could be quite the coup for Villa or Tottenham.
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