{"id":45311,"date":"2026-06-24T11:53:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T11:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/45311\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T11:53:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T11:53:41","slug":"joao-felix-backs-barcelona-linked-julian-alvarez-after-atletico-madrid-row-things-happen-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/45311\/","title":{"rendered":"Joao Felix backs Barcelona-linked Julian Alvarez after Atletico Madrid row: &#8216;Things happen there&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The debate surrounding Julian Alvarez\u2019s future at Atletico Madrid continues to gather momentum following the striker\u2019s recent comments <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-priority-target-drops-transfer-bombshell-with-stunning-public-admission-best-thing-for-everyone-is-a-transfer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">about wanting a transfer<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the club remains determined to keep hold of the Argentine international, fresh remarks from former Atletico and Barcelona attacker Joao Felix have added more tension to the situation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alvarez\u2019s future has dominated headlines in recent days amid <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-expected-to-return-with-fresh-proposal-for-26-year-old-la-liga-forward-in-coming-weeks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Barcelona\u2019s interest in the forward<\/a> and Atletico Madrid\u2019s strong response, which now includes plans to file a complaint with FIFA.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Joao Felix\u2019s comments suggest there may be more happening behind the scenes than what has been made public.<\/p>\n<p>Felix reacts to Alvarez\u2019s transfer controversy<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following Portugal\u2019s 5-0 victory over Uzbekistan at the FIFA World Cup, Felix was asked by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/tjcope\/status\/2069507846698324422\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">COPE<\/a> about the growing controversy involving Alvarez and Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/portugal-v-nigeria-international-friendly-6-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Joao Felix, Portugal player\" class=\"wp-image-203517\"  \/>Felix has backed Alvarez\u2019s decision. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Portuguese forward, who experienced a difficult spell under Diego Simeone before leaving the club, chose not to comment on the transfer directly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When discussing Alvarez\u2019s recent remarks, Felix said, \u201cHe must have his reasons for saying that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI can\u2019t say much about it, nor do I want to get involved in that, but he must have his reasons for talking about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThings happen there that only he knows about and people on the outside don\u2019t know. May he be happy and do what\u2019s best for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Felix stopped short of revealing specific details, his comments have inevitably fuelled speculation about the circumstances that may have led Alvarez to publicly express his desire for a move.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782273890_538_fc-barcelona-v-atletico-de-madrid-uefa-champions-league-2025-26-quarter-final-first-leg-1-1024x683.j.jpeg\" alt=\"Julian Alvarez of Atletico Madrid\" class=\"wp-image-203474\"  \/>Alvarez wants to leave Atletico Madrid. (Photo by Eric Alonso\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former Barcelona loanee knows Atletico Madrid well and endured his own complicated relationship with the club before eventually departing after falling out of favour.<\/p>\n<p>Atletico Madrid unhappy with Alvarez\u2019s comments<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alvarez\u2019s comments have not been welcomed by Atletico Madrid\u2019s hierarchy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, club <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/atletico-ceo-launches-severe-attack-on-barcelona-over-julian-alvarez-pursuit-we-are-going-to-file-a-complaint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin recently criticised<\/a> both Barcelona\u2019s pursuit of the player and Alvarez\u2019s decision to publicly discuss his future during Argentina\u2019s World Cup celebrations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite growing transfer rumours, Atletico continue to maintain that he is not available for sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Argentine remains under contract until 2030, with the club repeatedly pointing to his \u20ac500 million release clause whenever questions arise regarding a potential exit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The debate surrounding Julian Alvarez\u2019s future at Atletico Madrid continues to gather momentum following the striker\u2019s recent comments&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[179,92,222,223,20475,674,82],"class_list":["post-45311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-madrid","tag-atletico-madrid","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-joao-felix","tag-julian-alvarez","tag-madrid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}