Julian Alvarez seeks guidance from Lionel Messi as Barcelona move gathers pace | OneFootball

Earlier this week, Barcelona top target Julian Alvarez confirmed his intention to leave Atletico Madrid this summer. The 25-year-old is reportedly desperate to make a move to the Spotify Camp Nou, and this is something that he has spoken to one Argentina teammate in particular about.

Alvarez shares a dressing room at international level with a certain Lionel Messi, who celebrated his 39th birthday on Wednesday. And according to Jijantes FC, he has spoken at length with the Blaugrana icon about his desire to join this summer, with one of the topics being the best area in which to reside.

Messi is said to have played a significant part in Alvarez’s decision to seek a transfer to Barcelona, with the Atleti man also apparently having confided in him about his unhappiness at continuing to work under Diego Simeone at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.

Atleti determined not to sell to Barcelona

Alvarez may well be desperate to join, but the problem is that Atleti will only consider selling to any club whose name is not Barcelona. They have already reported the Catalans to FIFA over alleged “tapping-up” of the Argentine, thus further souring the institutional relations that had previously been strong between the two hierarchies.

It’s clear that signing Alvarez will be far from straightforward for Barcelona, who are readying their latest offer behind the scenes. At the very least, it will surely take a club-record bid to get a deal done, and it may not be overly wise to spend in the region of €150m on a player, given their mistakes of the past with the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele.

Nevertheless, Barcelona officials are continuing to work with the hope that a deal for Alvarez can eventually be agreed, but for that to happen, Atleti would need to soften their stance.