Overview
- Early September 2026 reports show Julián Álvarez remains an Atlético player, has returned to training, and did not move before the summer transfer window closed.
- Atlético publicly ruled out any sale to Barcelona, with chief executive Miguel Ángel Gil Marín saying the club would not accept offers of €100m, €150m or €200m.
- Barcelona is reported to have offered about €100 million structured across instalments, a bid Atlético treated as insufficient and then complained to the RFEF and, according to some reports, to FIFA over improper contact.
- Álvarez’s contract runs through June 2030 and carries a reported €500 million release clause, a term that together with new Apollo-backed ownership lets Atlético keep negotiating leverage for years.
- Arsenal and Manchester City monitored the situation but made no firm bids, leaving resolution dependent on regulatory findings, a materially different non-rival offer, the January window, or a change in the player’s public stance.