West Ham eye River Plate attacker Julian Alvarez
West Ham are in the hunt to sign Argentinian striker Julian Alvarez from River Plate, according to ESPN Futbol Argentina.
The online news outlet claims West Ham are “interested” in the 21-year-old forward who made his international debut against Chile on June 4.
ESPN relayed the news on their official Twitter account, accompanied by a video, though it is not available to be viewed in the UK.
Alvarez has also been recently linked with Premier League rivals Aston Villa, who Italian news outlet Calciomecato reported last week (18/06/21] were battling Ajax for the £14.3million-rated player. The news was also relayed by BirminghamLive.
The diminutive forward made his Argentina debut alongside captain Lionel Messi earlier this month, and according to Don Balon the world icon has recommended him to the Barcelona board as a potential signing.
South American star
We’ve not seen much of Alvarez, aside from his Argentina cameo against Chile, but he looks to be an exciting prospect that has made waves in his homeland and further afield.
According to fbref, Alvarez has scored nine goals and supplied four assists in his 35 appearances for River Plate.
That’s a decent if not spectacular return for a young forward making his way in the game, but what sticks out for us is his record in the 2020 Copa Libertadores, South America’s premier club competition.
It’s essentially their version of the Champions League, with clubs on the continent playing each other, and Alvarez scored five goals in six group stage games.
That’s a mightily impressive strike rate, and he looks set to be another of their emerging talents aiming to breakout in European football.
If we do firm up our interest, he may be one that we look to loan out for a period, but we might have to be quick with other clubs like Villa also vyig for his signature.
In other West Ham news, the Irons have made contact over a deal for this Euro 2020 striker who scored a Champions League brace in November.
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