Total rupture: Julian Alvarez goes on strike at Atletico to force Barcelona move

Julin Alvarez's time in Madrid has come to an end, as it would appear. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Argentine striker has written an official letter informing the club that he will not show up to practice tomorrow morning. The current climate at the Metropolitano has been referred to as a "total rupture".

Alvarez's ultimatum

Julian Alvarez is truly, beyond livid about having his move to FC Barcelona blocked by the Atletico Madrid board. The Argentine has been in a direct face to face where he clearly informed Atletico that he wants to leave the club.

For the past two weeks there has been massive tension building up between Julian Alvarez and the club after his potential move to Barcelona was totally shut down, and after getting no cooperation via talk or discussion, Alvarez took a radical step and began a strike; Julian is not showing up for training.

Simeone holds firm

Diego Simeone is refusing to yield and has stated that Alvarez is not for sale under any circumstances. Cholo and his sporting director are dead set on keeping the Argentine as a piece of their future.

However, forcing an unhappy and potentially striking player to join the squad, will have major repercussions to the club's dynamic as the season kicksoff. Atletico now need to decide whether they want to continue dealing with the unpleasant scenario and potentially see Alvarez continue his strike while missing the first week or even more of the regular season or if it would be better to allow Alvarez to make his dream move to the Camp Nou.

Barcelona have also made it clear that they are looking at potential alternatives and even held advanced negotiations for few players. This has made Alvarez more anxious.

This decision of Atletico will show the rest of the world of their mentality and status as a club. If they are really a club with dignity and values, they will let their player go. This is how big clubs operate: when a player wants to leave, they let them leave. We've seen this with Barcelona letting go of Ferran and Manchester City letting their best midfielder Rodri leave.

Now it's Atletico's turn. They have proven again and again of their small club mentality and we'll see in the coming days, if they have learned anything from their peers.