{"id":77852,"date":"2026-08-30T12:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/77852\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T12:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:06:13","slug":"atletico-madrid-director-reiterates-stance-on-barcelona-target-we-expect-him-to-be-available-for-the-next-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/77852\/","title":{"rendered":"Atletico Madrid director reiterates stance on Barcelona target: &#8216;We expect him to be available for the next game&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona continue to hope to sign Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid despite the move looking extremely unrealistic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Los Colchoneros have doubled down on the stance they have maintained all summer and made it clear that they will not sell the Argentine international to Bar\u00e7a at any cost.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alvarez missed Atletico training for three consecutive days this week, prompting speculation that he was pushing for an exit from the club.<\/p>\n<p>Alemany expects Julian back<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, as quoted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sport.es\/es\/noticias\/barca\/mateu-alemany-julian-alvarez-esperamos-133768167\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">SPORT<\/a>, Atletico director of football Mateu Alemany has reinforced the club\u2019s position and also addressed Alvarez\u2019s training absences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have been clear,\u201d Alemany said when questioned about the striker\u2019s situation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe board has said it, Miguel Angel Gil Marin has said it, and I refer to that. Why should I speak?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/atletico-de-madrid-v-villarreal-cf-laliga-ea-sports-2026-27-8-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Julian Alvarez, Atletico Madrid player\" class=\"wp-image-210441\"  \/>Julian Alvarez has been pushing for a move away from Atletico Madrid. (Photo by Angel Martinez\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also addressed Julian\u2019s recent absence from training.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cJulian had some days when he wasn\u2019t feeling well, yesterday he trained and we expect him to be available for the next league match,\u201d Alemany added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That message is significant for Barcelona. Atletico are clearly attempting to move the conversation away from a possible transfer and towards Julian returning to normal first-team duties.<\/p>\n<p>Tension has eased, but situation remains complicated<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The situation had intensified after Alvarez missed three training sessions, with the forward wanting the opportunity to join Hansi Flick at Barcelona.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, it looks like the tension has eased. Diego Simeone has opened the door to repairing the situation inside the dressing room.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, with a couple of days still left in the summer transfer window, the situation continues to be complicated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Premier League champions Arsenal are interested in signing the 26-year-old, but Alvarez does not seem keen on a move to England.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, while Bar\u00e7a continue to lie in wait for Atletico to change their mind, there is not much else that can be done.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona have to face reality<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fc-barcelona-v-al-ahly-sc-joan-gamper-trophy-3-3-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Raphinha of FC Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-211038\"  \/>Barcelona look set to head into September with Raphinha as their first-choice striker. (Photo by Alex Caparros\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona may still be active in the summer transfer window, but it does not look like they will move for an alternative striker to Alvarez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Catalan club should face reality and accept that they might be going into September without a recognised No. 9.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hansi Flick has shown that he is ready to improvise with Raphinha as a No. 9, and <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/hansi-flick-ready-to-bet-on-29-year-old-superstar-as-barcelonas-no-9-if-julian-alvarez-deal-fails\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">it is a solution<\/a> that the German manager is willing to trust.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, the squad also has the likes of Anthony Gordon, Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez, who can play as the striker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona also have the opportunity to develop Hamza Abdelkarim and mould him into a player capable of taking on that role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Everything points to <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/julian-alvarez-ready-to-rejoin-atletico-madrid-group-training-as-barcelona-hopes-fade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Alvarez remaining an Atletico player for the foreseeable future<\/a>, and it remains to be seen how the next few days pan out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barcelona continue to hope to sign Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid despite the move looking extremely unrealistic. Los&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[179,92,222,223,674,82],"class_list":["post-77852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-madrid","tag-atletico-madrid","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-julian-alvarez","tag-madrid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77852","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=77852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}