Officially…Julian Alvarez’ streak is over
The curtain came down moments ago on Atletico Madrid star Julian Alvarez’s long and torturous run of weeks after Barcelona’s pursuit of his services came to nothing.
The summer transfer season ended on Tuesday at twelve midnight Spanish time and one in the morning Cairo time.
The first episode of Julian Alvarez’s streak goes back to Barcelona’s €100m bid last June, which Atletico Madrid flatly rejected, with the Catalan club even responding sarcastically via their official social media accounts.
Real Madrid have intervened in the matter after announcing in an official statement that they have offered to sign Julian Alvarez for €150m, but Atletico Madrid’s board have also dismissed the matter, confirming that they want to accept a €500m release clause.
Things were made worse by Alvarez’s statements while he was competing with Argentina at the World Cup last June, when he made it clear that he wanted to leave Atletico Madrid, describing the matter as being in both parties’ interests.
Alvarez’s statements caused extreme anger at Atletico Madrid, who believed that Barcelona had acted irresponsibly and unprofessionally with their player, who has a valid contract with the team.
Atlético Madrid have also filed a formal complaint with FIFA and the Spanish Football Federation against Barcelona alleging the latter’s unfair treatment of Alvarez and illegal underhand deals.
Also Read: Atletico Madrid fans react to Alvarez after he failed to join Barcelona
Atletico Madrid, in an official statement or through the statements of its officials, for example, the executive director of the club, Gilles Marin, announced that Julian Alvarez is not for sale at all, especially in Barcelona, accusing him of unprofessionalism and also attacked the Argentinean’s agent.
After his summer break ended after the World Cup, Julian Alvarez returned to Atletico to take part in team training as he looked forward to a personal meeting with Atletico Madrid officials and coach Diego Simeone, which did not happen.
Things took a turn for the worse after Alvarez came on as a substitute in the match between Atletico Madrid and Villarreal and was violently attacked by fans when his name was announced. As he entered the pitch to replace Simeone, he suffered repeated bounces as he touched the ball, something that didn’t happen often as he looked extremely frustrated, forcing him to leave the pitch as the final whistle blew.
Alvarez then missed three consecutive days of Atlético Madrid training due to illness, which ruled him out of the Sevilla match, before returning to training alone.
Amidst all this, Arsenal have expressed a strong desire to sign Alvarez and have already been in contact with Atletico Madrid, but Alvarez has not expressed his desire to return to the English Premier League, as he kept the idea of a move to Barcelona, knowing that the reigning La Liga champions had a similar desire, and the Argentinian’s involvement until it became impossible.
Barcelona were finally forced to raise the flag of surrender and turn to another striker from Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus, on the final day of the summer transfer window.
As the summer Mercato came to an end, the word ‘End’ appeared on the screens to herald the end of Julian Alvarez’s streak, although it is possible that a new installment will appear next January with the start of the 2027 winter transfer window.