the club paid Vélez a €12.8 million transfer fee for 90% of his 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 and showed that he can play as a trequartista. His first official goal for Inter came against Trabzonspor on 22 November 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. In 2013, in 3–2 comeback win against Catania, Álvarez scored his first Inter goal. He scored two more on 7 April against Atalanta, although Inter lost that match 3–4 in the San Siro. Ten days later, in a Coppa Italia match at San Siro, he scored again against Roma, but Inter lost 2–3 in an eventual 5–3 aggregate loss. On 5 May, Álvarez scored from a penalty kick against Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo, but his team lost 3–1. Álvarez scored his tenth goal for Inter three days later against Lazio and also missed a penalty kick as Inter lost 1–3. Sunderland Álvarez joined English club Sunderland on September deadline day 2014. Álvarez initially signed on loan with a view to a permanent switch if Sunderland avoided relegation. Álvarez made his Premier League debut on 13 September 2014, playing 65 minutes in a 2–2 draw against Tottenham. He scored his first and only goal for the club on 3 February 2015 in a 3–1 win against Fulham in an FA Cup fourth-round replay. Álvarez suffered an injury to his right knee during a goalless draw with Swansea City in September 2014, which limited his appearances for the remainder of the season to 13 league games. Sunderland avoided relegation and triggered the conditional obligation to buy Álvarez outright for €10.5 million. However, the club did not wish to buy Álvarez due to a dispute with Inter over the player's fitness. Following Alvarez's injury in September, Sunderland had approached Inter to get their approval to carry out surgery, but Inter refused. The automatic purchase clause in Álvarez's contract would have been void if the player suffered a flare-up of a known case of tendinopathy in his left knee which had then prevented him from playing. Sunderland's medical team claimed that the injury to his right knee had