English Premier League
Mourinho tells unsettled Julian Alvarez to accept Atletico stay until January
Jose Mourinho has advised Julian Alvarez to accept remaining at Atletico de Madrid until at least January after his proposed move to Barcelona collapsed during the summer transfer window.
Alvarez had made clear that he wanted to join Barcelona, who submitted more than one formal offer for the striker. Atletico, however, rejected the proposals and refused to allow the Argentina international to leave.
With the Spanish summer transfer window ending on Tuesday, Alvarez will remain an Atletico player until at least the next transfer window in January.
Barcelona have since signed Gabriel Jesus to lead their attack following the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.
Mourinho, the Real Madrid manager, was asked about Alvarez’s situation at a news conference on Thursday, one day before his side’s La Liga match against Real Betis. He was also questioned on whether he had experienced a similar dispute during his own managerial career.
“No one knows the specific situation better than Simeone, and I don’t see that I have anything to say about this matter,” Mourinho said, according to Mundo Deportivo, referring to Atletico manager Diego Simeone.
He then offered Alvarez advice about dealing with the failed transfer.
“What I always say is that when a player is not happy and September 1 arrives, he has to become happy, because otherwise he will not play until January,” Mourinho said.
Mourinho added that he expected Alvarez to remain an important figure for Atletico during the months ahead.
“I have the feeling that from yesterday, and at least until December, he will be an important player for his club,” he said.
The Portuguese manager also rejected the suggestion that the La Liga title race would be limited to Real Madrid and Barcelona.
He believes Atletico have the quality and stability to mount a serious challenge, despite the club not necessarily making that ambition public.
“I think Atletico will be there as well. Even if they don’t say it publicly, I think they feel they are capable of competing,” Mourinho said.
“The way they make their signings gives them strength, and there is also internal stability through keeping the manager, as well as their organisation and training methods. This gives the team greater strength compared with those who are constantly changing.”
“For me, Atletico are one of the candidates. Then there are strong teams competing for Champions League positions, such as Betis and Real Sociedad.”
Mourinho said the Spanish top flight was particularly demanding because of the pressure placed on the leading clubs to win every match.
“For me, this is not an easy championship. There is constant pressure to always win,” he said.
“In Germany or France, the title candidates enjoy more comfort because they know they will be champions in the end. Here, any result other than a win is not considered a good result.”
Mourinho also said he had not spoken to former Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso about the club. The pair last spoke when Mourinho was in charge of Roma and faced Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen.
“I have not spoken to Xabi since we played against Leverkusen when I was with Roma,” Mourinho said.
He revealed, however, that he had spoken to former Real Madrid player and coach Alvaro Arbeloa, although Arbeloa was not the source of the information Mourinho received.
“With Alvaro, I spoke to him, but the information I got did not come from him,” Mourinho said.
“It is not easy for a former manager to talk about his previous situation, but it was not related to him.”
