Aston Villa handed Julian Alvarez transfer boost as Atletico Madrid moves close
Dan Bardell believes Julian Alvarez joining Atletico Madrid from Manchester City will help Aston Villa sign Joao Felix.
Fabrizio Romano reported, via X, on 6 August that the La Liga giants have tabled a £64.5million plus £17.2m in potential add-ons.
This move has come just three years after The Sun (28 October 2021) named Villa the side in “pole position” to sign the versatile forward from River Plate.
The move never happened and the Argentina international joined Manchester City.
Years later, Sky Sports and talkSPORT journalist Bardell believes that Alvarez is still out of the Villans’ reach in the transfer market but will help them sign Felix.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “I think Villa have just entered the realm where Joao Felix is a realistic signing.
“That’s because they are in the Champions League but in recent years it wouldn’t have been feasible.
“They aren’t quite at the level to get Julian Alvarez yet. They just aren’t in a place to compete for him at the moment. In a few years maybe Villa will find themselves in that position to bring in a player of that level.
“I’m surprised that Manchester City are willing to sell him to be honest. It could benefit in terms of the Felix deal but signing Alvarez wasn’t a real possibility.“
Julian Alvarez could be the perfect Aston Villa signing
It looks as if a move for the Argentine to La Liga is set to go through which inadvertently could help Villa land Felix in the coming weeks.
The Portugal international could prove to be a perfect edition under Unai Emery but there is no doubt that Alvarez could have been even better.
There has been interest in the 24-year-old in the past which didn’t appear to be reignited in the current window, but this would have been met with pure excitement from supporters.
The Man City man has almost fallen into Erling Haaland’s shadow at the Etihad but has still registered 17 and 19 goals in his first two seasons in England.
This output could have made him a perfect partner for Ollie Watkins who will be hoping to keep up his elite form.
Although the Villans don’t look set to sign Alvarez, Emery will be pleased that a move for Felix could now be sped up.
In other Aston Villa news, Leander Dendoncker has absolute shocker in friendly defeat against Club America as exit speculation swirls.
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