Julian Alvarez's phone kept ringing, every day.
It was Rodrigo de Paul, then Antoine Griezmann, then Giuliano Simeone, the Atletico Madrid's manager's son.
And behind every call, pulling the strings, was Diego Simeone himself, firing messages into Alvarez's phone during the Copa America and the Paris Olympics of the summer of 2024.
In the end, the World Cup-winning Argentina striker, who had just clinched the Premier League with Manchester City, had to beg for it to stop.
"Tell your dad to stop calling," Alvarez finally told Giuliano. He was coming, so could they all back off?
