Man City 'got Julian Alvarez price wrong' after selling for 'very big' fee - Stefan Borson

Manchester City could regret their decision to cash in on Julian Alvarez back in 2024 as news emerges over the striker's future.

That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that Man City "got the price wrong" two summers ago.

After just two seasons, 36 goals and 17 assists later, at the Etihad Stadium, Alvarez made it clear that he wanted a move away, in need of a new challenge.

Atletico Madrid gave him that opportunity, splashing £81.5million on his signature, where he has starred over the last two seasons, but is now wanting another transfer.

Real Madrid have already confirmed that they had a €150m (£129m) bid rejected for the 26-year-old, with Barcelona and Arsenal both interested in the player's signature this summer.

Although it is understood that City have a sell-on clause, potentially earning them up to £7m, Borson can't help but feel that the club were slightly premature by selling in 2024.

Man City to have regrets over Julian Alvarez sale

It would be absolutely absurd were the €500m (£431m) release clause in his contract be met, but even £150m is a signifcant jump from what Man City sold him for.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: "Well, you can look at it both ways, can't you? It looked like a very big fee at €90m-€95m (£77.6m-£81.9m).

"But if you get sold two years later with a 50 per cent uplift, maybe City got the price wrong originally. So, it's been very good; the overall transaction will have been a very successful transaction.

"But of course, you have to look at the portfolio of signings that you've made, and lots of them fail.

"And then you have one or two that work very spectacularly from a trading perspective that pay for the failures. With Alvarez, we got a couple of good years out of him, won a lot, made a good profit and maybe get a little bit more.

"But ultimately, you'd probably look at it and say they've not been the same since he left. How much of it was down to him is hard to say.

"They probably could do with him. You've got to balance that, you've got to balance profit with actually, could you do with the player? I think City probably could have done with the player."

What other mistakes have Man City made in the transfer market?

Despite the Citizens' decade of success under Pep Guardiola, not everything was absolutely perfect, with some failed transfers.

The biggest one currently still in the squad is Kalvin Phillips, who City signed from Leeds United for £42m in the summer of 2022.

City have been trying to offload him, really, ever since he arrived, and he joins a rather disappointing list next to Claudio Bravo, Nolito and Zack Steffen.

It would be extremely harsh to put Alvarez among those names, but City fans will always wonder 'what if' after he was sold to Atletico in 2024.