Atlético fans boo Álvarez days after Barcelona end pursuit
Julián Álvarez was booed by his own supporters on Sunday for wanting to join a club that stopped trying to sign him three days earlier.
Unpleasant Álvarez presence
Atlético supporters jeered him when the Metropolitano PA read his name, again when he warmed up, and louder when Diego Simeone brought him on just after the hour in a 2-2 draw with Villarreal. Álvarez walked to the tunnel alone at full time, his teammates gathered in the centre circle to applaud the stands. Atlético, not Álvarez, decided he should go. "The club decided he shouldn't go over to greet the fans with his teammates," Simeone said afterwards. "The decision wasn't Julián Álvarez's, it was the club that decided to move him away and separate him so he'd come to the dressing room." Atlético moved their own striker away from their own supporters to stop the night getting worse. Álvarez told the club on 25 May that he wanted to leave for Barcelona, and during the World Cup he said publicly that a transfer was best for everyone, according to Marca. Barcelona bid once, around €100m, and Atlético rejected it, pointing at a €500m release clause and a contract running to 2030. Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, the CEO, said twice that Álvarez would not be sold, once specifying not even for €200m. Barcelona walked away on 20 August. Deco, the sporting director, has parked the pursuit and is chasing other strikers, Lautaro Martínez, Victor Osimhen and Georges Mikautadze all named, a source told ESPN. Barça could return in January. For this window the move is off, and Hansi Flick spent the following days talking about internal solutions and a market with, in Deco's phrase, "a lot of noise." Álvarez asked to leave in May. Barcelona pulled out in August. Atlético supporters booed him on Sunday for a departure that is no longer available to him.
Arsenal and the deadline
Arsenal remain the only club still in contact. Álvarez has preferred Spain throughout, and his reported "no" to the Emirates still stands, though AS suggests he has not completely ruled it out as the deadline approaches. The window shuts at 11pm UK time on 1 September. Atlético have defended the same position since May. Álvarez cannot force the move. Atlético will not negotiate below the clause, and his camp has floated a €150m asking price, the same figure Atlético once rejected from Real Madrid, but a number nobody meets is not really a price. Barcelona have spent their budget elsewhere. Atlético supporters, his most likely source of leverage on the board, are the ones jeering him. Banners appeared at the training ground in Majadahonda earlier in the week, one reading "Julián fuera," another showing his number 19 crossed out, images circulated by the Frente Atlético supporters' group.
Simeone's position
Simeone walked back an earlier answer that sounded like he was excusing the fans, and drew a clean line before the Villarreal game. "I respect our fans, an absolute respect, but obviously I don't share insults or abuse," he said, adding that Álvarez is "very important, we need him, we're going to protect him from a footballing standpoint." Simeone was shorter after the match. Asked what advice he had given the player, he said flatly that giving advice was not his job, that his job was to get the best out of Atlético, and that if the club wants to win anything "we need to be together." Pushed for more on Álvarez, he cut it off. "I'm not going to answer every question about Julián. If you want to ask me something about the match, welcome." Atlético have kept a player they will not sell, who wanted out, and whose market has closed, and they now have to manage the fallout in their own stadium for a season. On Sunday they chose where their striker walked at full time. Álvarez has scored freely since arriving from Manchester City and remains one of the better forwards in La Liga. Everyone involved has spent the summer playing down a late Arsenal move. He is contracted to Atlético until 2030.
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