Julian Alvarez admitted that he was stunned to learn which club Manchester City teammate Erling Haaland supports and is hopeful of converting him away.
Haaland has made a stunning impact at City since his £51m move from Borussia Dortmund last summer, with the Norwegian striker in stunning form this season.
The 22-year-old City star has scored an incredible 27 times in 25 appearances in the league and is the firm favourite to win the Premier League Golden Boot this season.
Pep Guardiola’s men are hot on the heels of Arsenal in the Premier League title race and both Haaland and Alvarez are hopeful of securing major silverware with City.
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Alvarez, who arrived at the Etihad last summer alongside Haaland, secured major silverware with Argentina last December at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The 23-year-old forward played for boyhood club River Plate before his move to City, but Alvarez was surprised to learn about Haaland’s interest in Argentine football.
According to Alvarez, Haaland is a supporter of River Plate’s rivals Boca Juniors and believes former Dortmund player Leonardo Balerdi may have influenced him.
“Beyond what we all know about football, Haaland is a good boy,” he told Argentine TV channel TyC Sports.
“He helps me, we talk and from the outside, I try to look at him to learn.
“Since I arrived, he told me that he was for Boca and told me about La Bombonera.
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“I think he was with Leonardo Balerdi in Borussia Dortmund and that was a bit of an influence.
“Let’s see if we change it little by little, it’s going to be difficult but we’re going to try.”
Balerdi, who left Dortmund and went on to sign for Marseille, previously admitted he drove Haaland “crazy” with the stuff he showed him about Boca.
“When I was at Borussia, from the first day he asked me which was the best team, the one with the most history in Argentina,” he said.
“I drove him crazy with Boca, I showed him videos of fans, photos of the stadium and everything related to Boca.
“I told him what it felt like to play in La Bombonera, which was something unique.
“He became a fan of Boca and to this day we are in contact and every time he sees a video of Boca he sends it to me.
“He annoys me and asks, ‘When are we going?’ So, hopefully, one day he’ll have to experience that. He asked me to send him a Boca shirt with the No 9 on it.
“He’s quite a fan, I’m going to keep driving him crazy so that it happens every time a little more.”
Topics: Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Premier League, England, Football
Adnan Riaz