Barcelona fans have been getting excited over a possible Julian Alvarez transfer amid an interesting potential hint from Atletico Madrid. Alvarez is at the centre of the biggest transfer saga in Spain this summer, and he has only poured fuel on the fire while at the World Cup with Argentina.
First Real Madrid put in an all-but fabricated bid and made it public that Atletico Madrid had rejected it just to satisfy Florentino Perez's presidential promise. Then, later in the summer, Alvarez publicly asked to leave Atleti, leading to club chief Migue Angel Gil accusing Barca of trying to disrupt Alvarez by offering him a move.
In all likelihood, the Alvarez saga will not be resolved until he returns from the World Cup, but in the meantime, there has been a post that some Barca fans will be excited by.
Alvarez absent from Atletico photo shoot
Atletico Madrid announced their home kit for the coming season on Monday, with several pictures of their men's and women's team posted to their website and social media.
The photoshoot was clearly done before the World Cup, with the likes of Alex Baena and Alexander Sorloth posing in the new strip, but Julian Alvarez is nowhere to be seen, leading to fresh speculation over his future.
Of course, it could be purely circumstantial, but there could also be more to it, with Alvarez perhaps not wanting to be included. The Argentine has said he had talks with Atleti before the World Cup to communicate his desire to move on and follow his 'dream', although we don't know exactly what that is.
It's likely his 'dream' is to pursue major trophies, as he did previously with Manchester City, but there could be a specific club involved.
Barca may be hoping it is them, but there is a financial reality that would make a deal very difficult to pull off. Alavrez would likely cost 150million euros, and it's extremely unlikely - and likely impossible - for Barca to be paying that sort of money this summer.
The Blaugrana have a striker need following the departure of Robert Lewandowski, but they are going to have to be shrewd with their spending, as they have been for the most part over recent years.
Anthony Gordon has also been signed on big money already this summer, which is another factor that will make an Alvarez deal this summer very unlikely unless the asking price is slashed.
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