Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez, has revealed how he was courted by Real Madrid as a youngster, and why he turned down a move.

Back in 2011, when Alvarez was a promising 11-year-old playing for his local team in Argentina, he was invited to Girona, for a month-long trial with Real Madrid. He played a tournament wearing the famous white strip of Real, impressing their coaches and doing enough for the club to explore a deal to sign him permanently.

“I was there for about 20 days,” he told MEN Sport last year. “I was just 11 years old. To go to Spain, all my family had to move. It’s already in the past.”

During a feature published by City in 2023, his mother Mariana explained: “He always showed his quality, the clubs wanted him, but he didn’t want to go anywhere alone and neither did we. He was still so young.”

The family still have a photo album of Alvarez wearing his Madrid kits during the tournament, as well as newspaper clippings from Argentina where the trial made headlines in local press.

Alvarez has been in fine form for Atlético, and the Argentine international, who scored in Atletico’s 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, has netted 21 times in all competitions since signing from Manchester City in August in a deal reportedly worth 75 million euros ($78.56 million).

Diego Simeone has spoken highly of him ahead of playing Real Madrid.

“He is very young. He needs to continue in this way, he has to keep developing, he has room for improvement,” Simeone said.

“Hopefully his teammates and the coaching staff will help him continue to grow. He looks full with energy, with the desire to do more. That will influence his growth.”