An attacking midfielder who can play in the hole or on either wing. He possesses excellent all-round ability and a silky left foot, besides being a free-kick specialist with a potent and accurate shot.

He combines dribbling ability with lightning pace and the lungs to keep it up for the whole 90 minutes. Alvarez came through the Boca Juniors youth academy before moving onto Velez Sarsfield, where he became one of the stars of the side and won the Clausura championship in 2009 and 2011.

Early career

As a kid, Álvarez played papi fut for Caballito Juniors and Club Parque, and then had a brief stay in Boca Juniors' youth divisions. Álvarez played his first professional game with Vélez Sársfield in 2008. Following his debut, he suffered a knee cruciate ligament injury that stalled his progression on the first team. He then was part of the 2009 Clausura winning squad, playing only 18 minutes in the 1–0 victory over Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy.

The midfielder's breakthrough with the team finally came during the 2010 Clausura, in which Vélez, forced by the tight fixture of the Copa Libertadores, played mostly with substitutes. He scored his first goal in a 1–2 defeat to River Plate at the Estadio Monumental and received his first red card from referee Javier Collado in Vélez' 1–3 defeat to Racing, for complaining about a yellow card. He totalled 11 matches during the tournament (4 as a starter), and 1 goal.

Álvarez then played 15 games (2 starts) during Vélez' runner-up 2010 Apertura campaign. He also scored his second professional goal in his team's 1–0 home victory over Lanús for the 14th fixture. During the first semester of 2011, Álvarez got significant fan and media praise for his league and Copa Libertadores' games. He also showed versatility by playing all the positions of the midfield. During that semester, he helped his team win the 2011 Clausura and reach the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores.

On 5 July 2011, Álvarez joined Italian Inter Milan for a € 11.75 million fee, for 90% of his transfer rights. He debuted officially for his club in the 2011 Supercoppa Italiana defeat to Milan. Under the coaching of Claudio Ranieri, Álvarez began to establish himself in the team as he show he can play as a trequartista. His first official goal for Inter came against Trabzonspor on November 22, 2011 after a neat one-two with International teammate Diego Milito. He scored again in his side's 4–1 victory over Lecce, a tap in from a well worked cross by Yuto Nagatomo.