Jorge Valdano, the Argentine former footballer and football analyst, said Julián Álvarez already looked like a player who had mentally left Atlético de Madrid, borrowing a line from the writer Julio Cortázar to describe the striker's situation after his tense return to the Wanda Metropolitano against Villarreal.
Valdano recalled that Cortázar once said that when someone says they are leaving, they have already left. Watching Álvarez during the match, Valdano said that if you looked at his eyes, he had already gone, even though he was still wearing the Atlético shirt.
A hostile reception
Álvarez returned to the Metropolitano after a long absence and was booed before kick-off. His name was whistled when read out over the stadium's public address system, the jeers returned when he went out to warm up, and the reaction repeated itself when coach Diego Simeone brought him on in the 66th minute.
Fans in the section occupied by Atlético's most vocal supporters went further, chanting directly for his exit. The forward, once one of the team's leading offensive players, found himself at the center of a dispute with his own supporters every time he touched the ball.
Contract locks him in
Despite the tension, Atlético has no plans to let Álvarez leave. He is under contract until June 2030 and carries a release clause of 500 million euros. Barcelona tried to test that position with an offer of 100 million euros, which Atlético rejected, and the club has since held firm even against the prospect of higher bids.
Simeone, for his part, has made clear he still needs the striker. Speaking after the draw with Villarreal, the Argentine coach called for unity within the squad and defended the importance of holding on to his forwards. He said the team needed to stay together, adding that when they had done so in the past they had always been capable of achieving important things, and that winning titles requires strong forwards, which Atlético has and must look after.
That leaves Atlético in an awkward position. The club needs Álvarez to compete for its targets, even as part of its fan base has stopped seeing him as one of their own. Simeone is trying to shield him on the pitch while the club keeps the exit door shut, and Álvarez has to play in a stadium where his name now draws a very different reaction to the one it did before the summer.
Not for sale to Barcelona
The dispute traces back to Álvarez going public with his wish to leave. During the 2026 World Cup, he said he wanted to be transferred to Barcelona, turning what had been a market rumor into an institutional and sporting problem for Atlético. The club has repeated ever since that it has no intention of selling him.
Atlético's position has not shifted: Álvarez is not for sale, at least not to Barcelona, though a move to Arsenal has been floated as a different matter. Club chief executive Miguel Ángel Gil Marín put it bluntly, saying Atlético would not transfer the player and would not accept a Barcelona offer of 100 million euros, nor one of 150 million, nor one of 200 million.
