Julian Alvarez's dream has become a nightmare

BarcelonaAtlètic de Madrid plays this Saturday at the Sánchez-Pizjuán (9:30 p.m., Movistar) their third league match and already knows that they will not be able to count on their best striker. This was confirmed by the Mattress coach, Diego Pablo Simeone, at the previous press conference: Julián Álvarez will not be on the list of called-up players after three days without training with his teammates. Uncomfortable due to a conflict that has been following him for weeks, Cholo once again aligned himself with the conviction of the club to which he owes himself, which rejects any possibility of understanding with Barça, and made himself available to the player to recover his best version. "Everything is reversible as long as there is health," he concluded.

The official Mattress explanation for Julián's absence has been the same since Wednesday, the first day he missed training: "indisposition." However, when consulted by ARA, sources close to the entity's management specify that the Argentine forward needed assistance on Tuesday night for an anxiety attack derived from the situation he has been suffering from for weeks. Without going into further details, the CEO of Atlético de Madrid, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, could not deny that the footballer is going through a very low moment: "He is really bad. There have been people who have been in charge of deceiving him, confusing him, and I regret it very much. I know him, he is a great footballer and he is going through very difficult days personally and professionally."

In the same appearance, which took place within the framework of the Champions League draw, Gil Marín himself put words to the main cause of Julián's problems, which is none other than Atlético de Madrid's repeated refusal to sell him to Barça. The forward's dream sky blue, therefore, it has become a ordeal due to a very strong position that, as this newspaper explained a few days ago, is backed by the American investment fund Apollo, which has held 55% of the institution's shares since March. Beyond Joan Laporta and Deco's methods, criticized by Gil Marín – and which are ultimately those of any buyer in the football jungle – the criteria of the new owners weigh heavily, who are against strengthening a direct rival for the League with their best sporting asset.

For its part, Barça has already made it clear that it will not give up on its objective until the transfer market's final bell rings at 11:59 PM next Tuesday. Despite having had to endure these improper days of all kinds from the Metropolitano offices, it will be willing to sit down and talk about Julián's price if there is a radical turn of events. Its strength is the player's will and that of his unorthodox representative, Fernando Hidalgo, who has worked intensely since the end of May to make the transfer possible. And he does not plan to raise the 100 million offer he made at the beginning of the FIFA window too much. The Barcelona club will simply hold on in the hope of signing the player now at the last minute or in the winter when things have calmed down a bit. Meanwhile, Raphinha has already shown that he works as a new.

Mateu Alemany's favorite moment

It would be worse for Barça's interests if Julián Álvarez decided not to miss a few precious months of the season and agreed to return to England, from where he left in 2024 to sign for Atlético de Madrid. Selling to a Premier League club would indeed fit into Gil Marín and Apollo's plans. Arsenal has been the team showing the most interest in him for weeks, but they are not the only ones. Manchester City, which a few days ago loaned Omar Marmoush to Tottenham and is left solely with Erling Haaland as a goal specialist, has also opened the door to re-signing him two years after selling him for over 70 million.

Atlético's priority at the moment, however, is not to cash in on Julián, but to get him back for the season. This was the message that the Atlético sporting director, Mateu Alemany, personally conveyed to the forward this Thursday, according to the renowned Argentine journalist Verónica Brunati. However, if he does not see a positive reaction in the short term, the Balearic executive will move to find a profitable transfer for the entity and a substitute worthy of what Simeone demands. All in a few hours and in silence. Nothing that he hasn't done in the almost three decades he has been in football offices. They know this well at Camp Nou.