Julian Alvarez, the talented forward playing for Manchester City, recently had an old photo of him in a Real Madrid kit circulating on Twitter. Many fans misinterpreted it and believed he had ties to Real Madrid's academy.
However, Alvarez actually began his career at Atletico Calchin, a small football club in Cordoba, before joining River Plate's senior team in 2018.
When Alvarez was just 11 years old, he received an invitation for a trial in Girona, Spain. The invitation came from Ramon Martinez, the sporting director of Real Madrid at the time.
Despite being a fan of FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi, Alvarez and his family saw this as a great opportunity. He impressed during the trial and scored two goals in the Peralanda tournament while representing the Madrid youth team.
Madrid was interested in signing him, but due to FIFA regulations and the Alvarez family's circumstances, they couldn't complete the transfer.The new regulations restricted clubs from recruiting foreign players below the age of 13, and Alvarez's parents couldn't move to Spain.
As a result, the Alvarez family returned to Argentina. Julian went on to participate in trials for both Boca Juniors and River Plate before eventually signing with River Plate in 2015.
His career has since flourished, playing for one of Europe's biggest clubs, winning a World Cup at a young age, and recently renewing his contract with Manchester City.
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