Alvarez shares Atletico Madrid ´DNA´, says Simeone

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone believes new signing Julian Alvarez shares the club’s DNA and will be an immediate hit in LaLiga.

Atletico completed a deal worth up to €95million (£81.5m) for Alvarez earlier this week, bringing an end to his trophy-laden two-year spell with Manchester City.

The Argentina international, who scored 19 goals across all competitions in his final campaign with City, could make his Atleti debut on Monday, when they begin their LaLiga campaign with a trip to Villarreal.

Despite Alvarez not having much time to train with his team-mates, Simeone believes he has adapted quickly and could make a flying start to his time at the Civitas Metropolitano.

“Julian 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,” Simeone said at Sunday’s pre-match press conference.

“He just arrived a little while ago, has been training for four days but has been adapting fast.

“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 the Atleti DNA.”

Be scared. He is coming. pic.twitter.com/9c6PzpP5qd

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) August 17, 2024

Atletico have also completed deals for Spain’s Euro 2024-winning defender Robin Le Normand and Alexander Sorloth, who was one goal away from a share of LaLiga’s Golden Boot last season.

However, Simeone has played down talk of Los Colchoneros rivalling Real Madrid – who completed a long-awaited move for Kylian Mbappe this off-season – and Barcelona for the title.

“Real Madrid start 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 them,” Simeone said.

“We haven’t finalised the squad yet, we need to focus on tomorrow’s game and see game by game how the team progresses.

“Barcelona continue to have a very good team, Real continue to grow with players who are phenomenal but it’s clear that we have to think about ourselves.”