Atletico Madrid will only consider Julian Alvarez exit if €500m release clause is paid

Atletico Madrid chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin has reiterated that Julian Alvarez is not for sale and said the Argentina forward will only be allowed to leave if another club pays the €500m release clause in his contract.

Gil Marin’s comments come with growing speculation that Barcelona want to sign Alvarez, but Atletico’s position has not changed as the transfer window approaches its conclusion.

Speaking to the Spanish news agency, Gil Marin said Atletico needed players of Alvarez’s quality if they were to remain competitive among Europe’s leading clubs.

“Atletico Madrid, like all the big clubs, is built by great players, and I am sure Julian is one of them, as well as being a great professional,” he said.

“We must compete with our values, with players from our academy, and with the best players from abroad that we are able to sign.”

Gil Marin also insisted the club would continue supporting Alvarez and working to help him fulfil his potential in Madrid.

“We will help Julian and continue to look after him so that he can show us all his potential, because we need him to continue competing among the best in Europe,” he added.

The Atletico executive acknowledged the intense attention surrounding Alvarez but suggested the player had not received the best advice over his career in recent months.

“We must understand that Julian has not been close to the best advisers regarding his professional career during the past few months,” said Gil Marin.

He then made clear that Atletico would not allow rival clubs or sympathetic media outlets to influence its decisions or sporting plans.

“The club will not allow other clubs and the media close to them to decide what we have to do, define our sporting strategy, or damage us,” he said.

“That is exactly what they are looking for: to divide us. It is clear that we do not have the same strength they have, but we have our values. Atletico Madrid supporters will not allow them to tarnish us. Atletico Madrid is strong when we are all united.”

It is exactly 60 days since Alvarez first declared his wish to leave the Madrid club after Argentina’s match against Austria at the World Cup.

At the time, the Argentina international said: “The best thing for everyone is to move on, I want to achieve my dream.”

That statement revealed what he had previously avoided discussing: his dream was to join Barcelona.

There has been no change since then beyond Atletico’s refusal to consider a departure. The club has repeatedly denied that Alvarez could leave, except in one circumstance the payment of the €500m release clause included in his contract.

Gil Marin’s latest intervention therefore represents another firm restatement of Atletico’s position: Alvarez is central to the club’s plans and will remain in Madrid unless his contractual buyout figure is met.