Will the player freeze him out? Atletico Madrid falls back on the past to thwart Barcelona and Alvarez's plan
The summer transfer window has closed exactly as Atletico Madrid wanted: Julian Alvarez stays put.
Atletico never wavered. From the moment the saga blew up, especially after Alvarez admitted at the World Cup that he wanted out, they refused to give an inch.
The newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" report that, at the Wanda Metropolitano, the matter has been considered closed for days. Alvarez has returned to training after missing several days of the team's usual routine due to an undisclosed "illness".
Barcelona's signing of Gabriel Jesus did nothing to quiet the speculation around the Atletico striker. If anything, it has made one thing plain: this will not go away. The Rojiblancos know it too, aware the issue will trail them all season whatever happens.
Inside the Metropolitano offices, the picture is obvious. Play Champions League and Cup ties, throw in a direct clash for a title like the Super Cup, and the messages linking the player to Barcelona will start up again, just as they did last season.
Atletico grasp the danger. The more these flashpoints recur, the worse things get with Barcelona. Yet the Madrid club keep repeating the line they held all summer: for Barcelona, the release clause in Julian Alvarez's contract stands at 490 million euros.
Chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin spelled it out in his recent remarks. Might Barcelona find a better opening in the winter window, next season, or in the years ahead? For now, the answer is no.
Marin declared, during the Champions League draw a week ago: "I have been in the world of football for more than thirty years, this is my word, and it is one of the few things I have. And with me as chief executive, Alvarez will not move to Barcelona, that is certain."
The same message is echoing through the club's offices. For Atletico, it is a strategic move, a signal that they will not surrender their stars while they can defend them.
Anyone who thinks Julian cannot see out his contract, given his cost and current salary, forgets cases like Thomas Lemar. Once the most expensive signing in the club's history, Lemar spent his days on Atletico's bench, drawing one of the highest wages without much prominence, and the club did not buckle under it.
Consider Saul and Victor Machin Vitolo, too. Both mirror the Frenchman's situation in cost, salary and standing.
Put simply, if Julian digs in or Barcelona refuse to blink, Atletico have precedent enough to meet the challenge head on.
