Julián Álvarez Misses Third Straight Atlético Training Session With "Illness" as Transfer Window Nears Close

Three training sessions. Three straight absences. And the same word repeated by the club as the only explanation: "illness." Something strange is brewing at Atlético Madrid around Julián Álvarez, and the clock isn't helping: there are only five days left before the transfer window closes, and nobody at the Metropolitano seems entirely sure what's going to happen with the Argentine.

The forward, a World Cup champion with Argentina in Qatar 2022, didn't train with the rest of the squad on either Wednesday or Thursday, and everything points to him sitting out Friday as well. The immediate consequence has already been confirmed: he'll miss this Saturday's match against Sevilla, in LaLiga's third matchday. In another context, this kind of absence would barely register. But with the market about to close and Julián's name being floated heavily in Barcelona and London, every missed session gets read as a sign of either a looming exit or an internal crisis.

The man who addressed the matter publicly was Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, the club's chief executive, speaking from Monaco, where he had traveled for the Champions League draw. His words left little room for speculation about the player's state of mind:

He's really struggling, because there have been people responsible for deceiving him and confusing him. And I'm very sorry about it, because I know him, we've been working with him for a while, he's a great person, a great professional and a great footballer, completely confused and right now going through a very, very difficult situation, both personally and professionally.Miguel Ángel Gil Marín

Confused by whom? That's where the executive chose not to name names, though the backstory is fairly well known: the player's wish was to leave for Barcelona, a club that had won him over and that he himself reportedly saw as his preferred destination. The problem is that Atlético has already made its position clear, more than once: it has no intention of selling him to the Catalan club "under any circumstances." Not now, and apparently not in any future scenario either.

Two Paths, One Deadline

With that door closed, the player and the club are practically left with two possible outcomes before the window shuts. The first is the simplest on paper: Julián stays at Atlético, this episode of confusion gets resolved, and he goes back to suiting up with the rest of the squad. The second runs through Arsenal, which remains the alternative the Madrid club would be willing to consider, though with one significant condition: the deal would need to be in the neighborhood of 150 million euros for Atlético to sit down and negotiate seriously.

With those numbers on the table and a player who, according to his own club, is going through a difficult personal moment, the only certainty for now is that this Saturday the Metropolitano will see him from the stands, not from the field. Everything else will be sorted out, for better or worse, against the clock.