Set to leave - Where would Julián Alvarez rank among the most expensive players of all time?

“I can’t hide it" 

Julián Alvarez has confirmed that he intends to leave Atlético Madrid in the summer transfer window. Speculation has surrounded the Argentina international for several months now, with the player being heavily linked with a move to Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. Alvarez was also subject to a bizarre and rather unconventional public announcement from cross-city rivals Real Madrid earlier this month, when they claimed to have had a bid rejected for the striker. Regardless, while the player’s future club remains in question, Alvarez has underlined his intention to leave Atlético in the coming months.

“I can’t hide it,” Alvarez said to ESPN after Argentina’s victory over Austria at the World Cup on Monday. “I try to be an honest person. I spoke with Atletico Madrid, and I think a transfer is the best option. I want to fulfil my dream.” However, while Alvarez may have every intention of moving clubs this summer, his current employers remain intent on keeping him or selling him for the highest price. According to The Athletic, Madrid offered €150 million for the 26-year-old talent, but sources within Atlético didn’t believe the offer to be a genuine one. Reports in Spain have suggested that a far more realistic offer will come from Barcelona, whose initial discussions with their LaLiga counterparts indicated they would have to offer more than €100m for Alvarez’s signature, with some publications quoting a final figure of around €130m.

Such a fee would undoubtedly place Alvarez’s name in the record books for several reasons. The fee alone would make the striker Atlético’s most valuable sale of all time, surpassing the €120m Barcelona paid for Antoine Griezmann in 2019. It would also make Alvarez the most expensive Argentinian player of all time, overtaking Enzo Fernández’s €121m move to Chelsea in 2023. On top of all that, a fee of €130m would mean that Alvarez’s accumulated transfer fees over the course of his entire career would amount to a staggering €226.4m.

That, coincidentally, would see Alvarez overtake Griezmann once again, to become the eighth most expensive player of all time. As we can see in the table above, Alvarez would still fall some way short of the top five, with PSG forward Ousmane Dembélé (€233m in accumulated transfer fees) sitting fifth, while Alexander Isak (€246.1m) and Cristiano Ronaldo (€247m) claim fourth and third place respectively. Remarkably, Romelu Lukaku sits second with no less than €369m spent on the Belgian striker over the course of his career, while Brazilian star Neymar claims top spot with €400m spent on him during his time at Barcelona and PSG. While it seems unlikely that Alvarez will be able to reach the €400m mark, he could feasibly break into the top five before the end of his career considering how young he is.

Note: When you search for something on Google, you’ll see a box with the latest news alongside the usual results. If you set Transfermarkt as your preferred source, our content will appear there more often. Add Transfermarkt as your preferred source here.