Atletico reportedly wanted Alvarez to publicly ask for Barcelona move | OneFootball

After losing Robert Lewandowski and Marcus Rashford at the end of the last season, FC Barcelona are set to lose another center-forward as Ferran Torres’ move to Paris Saint-Germain is almost complete, with only the official confirmation remaining to come.

With the Spaniard’s departure, the Blaugranes will have no natural first team center-forward available, and the urgency to land a striker from the market is set to increase with every passing day. The Catalans have identified the Atletico Madrid star Julian Alvarez as their top-priority candidate for this role, and this operation, which has remained one of the most compelling ones of the summer, is seeing rapid developments.

There have been some conflicting reports about the Argentine recently. For instance, one report suggested that the player has apologized to his teammates for publicly asking for a move, and has ensured them that he remains committed to his current club. Meanwhile, another report claimed that such a thing never happened, and the forward is continuing with his plan of pushing Atletico to negotiate his sale with Barcelona.

In such a context, some more bizarre news is coming from Argentina. As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the journalist Martin Arevalo appeared in a program on ESPN and claimed that it was Atletico management that asked the player to make a public statement if he wanted to leave the club. The Colchoneros wanted this so that everyone would know that a potential transfer would come only because of the player’s wishes.

However, for now, Atletico Madrid are not willing to let him leave for anything less than his release clause. As a result, the player is in a very uncomfortable situation, and he cannot bear being at the capital club any longer.

Barcelona would be keenly observing these developments, and would be preparing their own move if Julian Alvarez is able to push Atletico Madrid to negotiate for his sale. Going forward, it remains to be seen how this operation would pan out, but the upcoming few days are going to be quite crucial for all the involved parties.