Txiki Begiristain raises the bar as Julian Alvarez signs new Man City deal

Manchester City intend to turn Julian Alvarez into one of the best strikers in world football after giving him a bumper new deal.

Alvarez, 23, has signed a new contract at the Etihad just over a year after agreeing to join the Blues. The former River Plate forward has endured a meteoric rise, establishing himself under Pep Guardiola in his first year of English football and winning the World Cup with Argentina playing alongside his childhood idol Lionel Messi.

As they do with many players, City have moved to renegotiate terms with Alvarez soon into his City career in order to reflect the progress he has made and to protect their asset; as M.E.N Sport reported this week, the forward will double his money. Unusually, they have also acted in the second half of the season rather than waiting until the end of the campaign as they would normally do.

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Speaking about Alvarez, sporting director Txiki Begiristain raised expectations for what the club are hoping for. “Julian has impressed everyone at Manchester City with his technical ability, dedication and attitude," he said.

“He is the ideal blueprint for a young footballer and an inspiration to anyone looking to make their way in the game. He has shown already here in England that he has outstanding movement and natural goalscoring instincts.

“We saw at the World Cup what a special talent he is. To win that trophy at his age is amazing and we are all very proud of what he achieved.

“His progress so far has been really good, but we are now fully focused on developing his game even further and turning him into one of the best strikers in world football.”

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