Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has expressed his excitement about new signing Julian Alvarez, the 24-year-old Argentine forward who joined the club last week from Manchester City for a reported €75 million ($82.7 million). Simeone believes Alvarez will make a significant contribution to the team and expects him to be available for their La Liga opener against Villarreal on Monday.
“Julian (Alvarez) is a player we are all looking forward to seeing and who will help us to be better. It was all very sudden, so quick. He just arrived a little while ago, has been training for four days but has been adapting fast,” Simeone said at a press conference on Sunday. “But I see him with a lot of enthusiasm, knowing where he is coming from and understanding where he is heading towards. His characteristics fit to the Atleti DNA.”
Despite the significant investment in Alvarez, along with other new signings like Robin Le Normand and Alexander Sorloth, Simeone tempered expectations about a title challenge, recognizing the formidable strength of Real Madrid, who won the Champions League and LaLiga double last season and have further bolstered their squad with the acquisition of Kylian Mbappe.
“Real Madrid start the season as the best team and will have to prove it with the wonderful players they have while all the rest of us will be behind to compete against them,” Simeone said. “We haven’t closed the squad yet, apart from not closing it yet, we need to focus on tomorrow’s game and see game by game how the team progresses.”
While acknowledging the ongoing strength of Barcelona, Simeone emphasized the need for Atletico Madrid to focus on their own development and progress. “Barcelona continue to have a very good team, Real continue to grow with players who are phenomenal but it’s clear for me that we have to think about ourselves.”
