Petition calling for Julian Alvarez to dump girlfriend now has 20,000 signatures

A bizarre petition calling for Manchester City's Julian Alvarez to dump his girlfriend has surpassed 20,000 signatures.

He was given extended time off by City but showed off his World Cup medal ahead of the game against Everton on Saturday, before making a late cameo in the 1-1 draw.

But the 22-year-old has recently been the subject of an extremely unusual petition set up. One fan took to Change.Org to demand Alvarez split up with his other half Emilia Ferrero, who hails from the same village as Alvarez.

It came after a video where a group of youngsters asked for Alvarez's signature went viral. Emilia, who plays hockey and has 177,000 followers on Instagram, appeared to only let the fans take a group picture.

'Mary Jane', the name of Spiderman's love interest, is referring to the fact the former River Plate forward is nicknamed 'La Arana' - which translates to 'The Spider'.

20,000 people signed it but it doesn't look like Alvarez will be listening to the outside noise as he posted a picture of him and his girlfriend enjoying the New Year's Eve celebrations in Manchester.

Alvarez signed for City in a £14 million move and has scored seven and assisted two in 20 appearances in all competitions for Pep Guardiola's side.

"Haaland is not good on the wings. And Mbappe does not participate much as a number 9. Julian does all of that."