Atletico confirm they’re leaving Arsenal target out of matchday squad

Diego Simeone has confirmed that Julian Alvarez won’t be in the Atletico Madrid squad on Wednesday amid the speculation around his future.

Julian Alvarez clearly wants out of Atletico Madrid this summer, and the situation has now come to a head, with Atletico kicking off their La Liga campaign at home to Malaga on Wednesday night.

Ahead of the game, Atletico manager Diego Simeone has confirmed that Alvarez won’t take part, but insists there’s no room for doubt that the striker is staying at the club this summer.

“We believe that Julian is not yet in the necessary condition to play or take part in this match,” Simeone said. “I hope that over the next four days he improves and that we get closer to what we want.

“If the club owner has expressed himself so firmly (on Alvarez’s future), there’s not much more to add. It’s like in court: no longer any room for doubt.

“On our side, we’ve to focus on the sporting aspect – taking care of the person and the player, and wait for him to be in the best possible condition to continue defending the name Julian represents, the player he is, and everything he has given us.”

Alvarez’s preferred summer destination is clearly Barcelona, but Atletico have been emphatic that he won’t be joining their La Liga rivals.

The club appear a little more open to doing business with clubs overseas, which has opened the door a little for Arsenal.

The Gunners are undoubtedly interested in Alvarez, with reports suggesting he’s the club’s top striker target this summer, but if Alvarez continues to insist on Barcelona, it’s difficult to lure him away to north London.

With two weeks remaining in the summer transfer window, it shouldn’t be long until a final decision is made. But according to Atletico, that decision was made weeks ago, and it’s just up to Alvarez to accept it.

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