Manchester City look set to complete the signing of Argentinian striker Julian Alvarez from River Plate over the coming days, for an initial fee of £17.9m.
The 21-year-old will stay at his current club until the end of the season and could join up with City as late as November if River progress to the latter stages of the Copa Libertadores.
Alvarez's 22 goals in 45 games last season fired River to the title, while also earning him the title of South American Footballer of the Year.
Scoring goals in general aside, it appears that Alvarez has a particular knack that will strike fear into the hearts of Manchester United supporters: scoring goals on derby day.
There are many comparisons being made between Alvarez and Sergio Aguero, perhaps slightly unfairly given the legendary status Kun holds at the Etihad Stadium and in world football.
But where parallels can be drawn are their performances against their bitter rivals.
In 13 Premier League appearances against United, Aguero scored eight goals and bagged nine in 16 matches in all competitions. Whether he was smashing the ball into the top corner after bulldozing his way from one side of the penalty area to the other or getting in on the act during a 6-1 demolition, Aguero loved to stick it to City's cross-town foes.
Now, Manchester derbies can be pretty unsavoury affairs, but the fixture has nothing on Argentina's Superclasico.
River Plate vs Boca Juniors is perhaps the most ferocious derby in world football, and that only seemed to fire Alvarez up and get him playing at his very best.
In six meetings with the side synonymous with Diego Maradona, Carlos Tevez and Juan Roman Riquelme, Alvarez scored three goals over 313 minutes, including a match-winning brace in the most recent Superclasico.
On October 3, 2021, River hosted Boca at El Monumental in Buenos Aires in the Argentinian top flight. River were top of the pile with Boca struggling down in ninth but, similar to City on their trips to Old Trafford in recent years, River showed no mercy.
Thanks to the lunacy of former United defender Marcos Rojo, the visitors were reduced to 10 men with just 16 minutes on the clock after the centre-back picked up two yellow cards in quick succession.
United fans will hope that is not a premonition of things to come, but soon Alvarez ran riot.
With 25 minutes gone, the number nine won the ball just outside the centre circle and began to charge forward. About 30 yards from goal he lost his challenger by cutting inside onto his right and rocketed a looping effort high into the goal.
It was an absolutely stunning effort, topped only by the roars of the thousands of home supporters packed into the famous old stadium.
Just before half-time he got his second and effectively ended the contest, timing his run perfectly before deftly tapping home a clever pull-back from the edge of the six-yard box.
In the two goals alone, the similarities to Aguero were obvious. The stunning long-range strike was reminiscent of Kun's ability to surprise goalkeepers and defenders with snapshots from distance, while the second mirrored the instincts and cunning movement of the City legend.
River won the game in question 2-1 and their fans had a new hero.
City don't have a brilliant record against United of late - particularly at home - having won just one of their last six league meetings with their rivals at the Etihad Stadium.
If Alvarez can help improve that record then he will be assured hero status at City too.
Do you think Julian Alvarez could become United's new nemesis? Follow our City Is Ours writer Alex Brotherton on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
