decide

What Atletico manager Simeone sold him was a football project that had the striker at the centre of it. Alvarez wanted to feel wanted.

“He told me I could give the club something huge,” he recalls. “That I’d have the space and the opportunity to be my best version.”

The Argentines already at the club helped too – De Paul, Griezmann’s warmth, the Spanish language, a culture that felt closer to home than Paris or Manchester ever could.

In August 2024, Atletico Madrid confirmed the deal – 95m euros (£81.5m), a club record received by City, and a six-year contract. The club announced it with a Spiderman video and Alvarez loved it.

Ask him about the price tag and he almost looks confused by the question.

“It’s more something that gets talked about in the media,” he said. “In the dressing room I’m just one of the group. I like being treated that way.”

His father worked in a cereal factory in Calchin. His mother was a schoolteacher. He grew up knowing that you have to earn respect, or reputation. He is still the same person. It shows on the pitch too – the World Cup winner who sprints back to win the ball, who presses from the front. Simeone rarely singles out individuals, but with Alvarez, he makes exceptions.

Across two seasons in red and white, he has made 102 appearances and scored 47 goals, numbers that tell only part of the story.

His time at Atletico has not been without frustration. In La Liga this season, the numbers have been modest – eight goals in 29 appearances, and just one in 2026.

His strike against Oviedo at the end of February ended a run of 14 league games without a goal, his previous one coming against Sevilla on 1 November. But the Champions League has been a different story, bringing nine goals in 12 appearances this season.

Despite that uncertainty, Davies is already laying the foundations for the club’s long-term direction, with a major emphasis on building a high-performance environment both on and off the field.

“A big part of what I’m doing is making sure we’re high-performance across the board,” he added.

“There’s a huge amount of work in aligning our style of play – our Scarlets DNA – with the processes that support that, the coaching roles, the player profiles, the conditioning programmes and the skill sets.

“It’s about putting the right processes and metrics in place so we can drive things forward, understand where we are and measure progress.”

Davies also confirmed he has yet to hold any discussions about extending his stay, although he is leading a significant structural reset behind the scenes.

“A lot of this is about evolving the environment,” he said.

“There will be robust processes and a clear structure in place for the future, whoever is involved.”

The review has already led to changes in the backroom team, and more could follow, with defence coach Jared Payne leaving at the end of the season.

Davies says further backroom adjustments are likely as the club looks to rebuild.

“In any organisation, if you want to move forward, you have to continually assess, re-evaluate and evolve,” he said.

“There will be changes.”

Israeli journalist and writer, Gideon Levy, says that regime change in Iran is unlikely and the decision to end the war ultimately rests with US President Trump, not Israel.