Real Madrid have identified Manchester City and Argentina's Julian Alvarez as the backup option for Kylian Mbappe, reported Sky Sports on Monday.
Alvarez, 23, plays as a backup to Erling Haaland in Man City and may be tempted to leave the European champions in search of regular football.
The 23-year-old is considered an all-round footballer as he is not a traditional striker who stays in the box to just score goals.
Alvarez is also known for his linkup play and his contribution off the ball.
The Argentine netted 17 goals in all competitions last season and has already scored twice this season.
Alvarez has a long-term contract with Man City that runs until 2028 and is rated highly by the head coach Pep Guardiola.
It must be noted that Madrid have been trying to sign Mbappe since his AS Monaco days in 2017-18 but the player decided to join the French club Paris-Saint Germain (PSG) on a €180 million deal.
The deal was likely to happen this summer after the 24-year-old sent a letter to the French club saying that he would not extend his contract till 2025.
PSG reacted to Mbappe's letter in an aggressive way and did their best to force him to leave the club.
In their extreme measures, PSG not only refused to select Mbappe for their pre-season tour to Asia but also made him train with the players who were no longer part of their project.
The footballer was also not called up for PSG's league opener against Lorient.
However, the 2018 World Cup winner was soon reintegrated into the squad after positive talks with the club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
On the other hand, Real Madrid are without a first-choice striker and are forced to play Joselu — who was signed as the first-choice striker's backup —as the starting striker.
Other than that, the Los Blancos are also struggling with the injuries as their first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and centre-back Eder Militao suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury and are out till April.
Star winger Vinicius Jr. also tore his hamstring muscle against Celta Vigo last month and is likely to be out till the end of September.
