Julian Alvarez prioritising Barcelona move: Diego Simeone relationship and Marcos Llorente fuel talk | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid star Julian Alvarez will reportedly prioritise a move to Barcelona this summer if he is to leave the Metropolitano this summer. Talk continues to be fueled that Alvarez could leave Los Rojiblancos, despite reportedly being happy in the Spanish capital.

Earlier this week it was put out there that Sporting Director Mateu Alemany was open to the idea of cashing on Alvarez this summer. Yet Los Colchoneros do have a renewal offer on the table for Alvarez, and their intention is to keep him. Matteo Moretto reported on Thursday night that Alvarez was prioritising a move to Barcelona, something he confirmed to RadioMarca the following day.

Julian Alvarez-Diego Simeone relationship strained

Moretto explains that Alvarez’s family are happy in Spain, and would prefer a move to Barcelona. The Catalan side want to make him their priority target again, but are waiting for Alvarez to make that wish clear to Atletico. In the coming weeks, they will do what they can to see if a deal is possible. In addition, they hope to bring the price tag down to around €100m by including players in the deal, something that might not be in Atletico’s interest.

Another part of the equation is that Alvarez’s relationship with manager Diego Simeone is ‘not the best’, as per Moretto. If Barcelona do not strike a deal with Atletico, then Alvarez and his agent will consider offers from elsewhere, with Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal interested.

Marcos Llorente fuels Alvarez transfer talk

Earlier in the season, Alvarez fueled links to Barcelona by declaring that he did not know if he would be at Atletico next season, and now Marcos Llorente has reiterated that message. Speaking to Cadena Cope, he had the following to say on Alvarez’s future.

“I don’t know what he’ll do, and even he won’t know, not even now. I don’t ask him. He seems fine to me, but maybe he wants to leave and we just don’t know.”