Who is Julian Alvarez? The Rise of Argentina’s Little Spider

The highly regarded Argentine forward will be expecting to win numerous championships while playing football in England.

After joining Manchester City for £14 million ($17 million) from River Plate, Julian Alvarez is eager to establish himself right away. The 22-year-old attacker explains why he has earned the nickname “The Little Spider.” His family gave him that moniker when he was a little child in Argentina, and it has stuck with him ever since.

The current strategy is to create a lot of webs in the Premier League that snare opposing defenders and enable the defending champions to win more hardware.

The 22-year-old Alvarez is another reason why some of the worries City supporters had after Sergio Aguero’s departure have been allayed. His striking contributions to his nation’s World Cup run will have further piqued their interest.

Who is the Argentina captain Lionel Messi’s co-star at the World Cup? Here is the Julian Alvarez story.

Who is Julian Alvarez?

Before signing with River Plate in 2016, Cordoba-born Alvarez spent a portion of his childhood career at Atletico Cali before having trials with Boca Juniors and Real Madrid.

Alvarez was unable to be signed by the Spanish giants due to regulations regarding the age at which foreign players can be signed by European clubs. In 96 appearances for the team since making his River debut in October 2018, he scored 36 goals and contributed 25 assists.

The teenager made a name for himself for Argentina at the junior level and made his senior debut against Chile in a World Cup qualifier in June 2021. Julian Alvarez scored his first goal against Ecuador in March of the following year.

Julian Alvarez plays where?

Despite the fact that City recruited Haaland specifically to be a striker, Alvarez can play wherever throughout the forward line. Alongside Haaland, Pep Guardiola has used him as a number 10 who plays a little deeper.

Alvarez, who stayed with River Plate until June 2022, demonstrated the ruthlessness with which he had wowed Guardiola in preseason when he scored 12 minutes after coming on in the 3-1 Community Shield loss to Liverpool.

How much did Manchester City pay for Julian Alvarez?

With every goal the cheap purchase scores, Alvarez’s $17.3 million ($14 million) price tag appears to be even more of a steal.

City are frequently big spenders, and the high price tags place even more pressure on players like Jack Grealish and Haaland. With Alvarez, a low-risk investment that already appears to have paid off, there wasn’t much of that.

Before the Forest game, Guardiola praised the player for being both humble and upbeat. “He always leaves everything behind. Erling is excellent despite the attention he is receiving.”

Why is Julian Alvarez known as The Little Spider?

The highly regarded South American spent his early years learning the game from more experienced brothers in the streets of Calchin. He told Sky Sports about those early years: “It was a very small village and we always played together ever since I was very young.”

“We shared the same group of friends. We would all meet up on a small pitch that we had in the village and spent many, many hours just playing football together.”

Explaining how he obtained his ‘El Aranita’ nickname, Alvarez added: “It was just something that occurred to me when I was a little child, no older than four, playing football with my brothers.

My brother once remarked, “Look at him, like a little spider. It just stuck and when you get older you don’t give it up. I like it, it is a great name.”