Julian Alvarez has the support of the Atletico Madrid squad, according to goalkeeper Jan Oblak, after the forward was booed on his return to action. The Arsenal transfer target has been pushing for a move away, but Atletico have no plans to sell him to his dream club Barcelona, which has opened the door for a return to the Premier League.
Booed on return
The Argentine was absent for their La Liga opener earlier this week but was named in the squad for the visit of Villarreal. Diego Simeone brought him on in the second half, with Atletico scoring a late equaliser in front of their home supporters.
While the majority of Atletico's players went around the pitch and clapped their fans, Alvarez was instructed to leave the pitch. As he trudged down the tunnel accompanied by club officials, he was heavily booed and jeered.
Oblak and Simeone respond
Oblak has now spoken out on the incident and his future, while also confirming he has the support of Atletico players despite the uncomfortable situation. He told DAZN: "We all need to be united. Julian is here, he's with us in the team and while he's with us, we're going to support him and we want him in the best way."
"Unfortunately, it's a situation that isn't comfortable for anyone, but hopefully all that is sorted out and at the end of the season we can all be happy."
When pressed about the whistles directed at Alvarez and what advice he might offer him, Diego Simeone said: "I'm not here to give advice. What I have to do is concentrate on my work, which is, from a sporting sense, to give my best for Atletico Madrid."
"The only thing I know is that if Atletico Madrid want to win a title, we need to be together, we need to have forwards, and we need to have important forwards. And for that, we need to work on it as a result, everyone, on what we need."
Club decision and transfer stance
Simeone also disclosed that the decision to prevent Alvarez from approaching the home supporters came from senior figures at the club. He added: "People at the club told me that the club decided he shouldn't go near the stands or the fans. It was the club's decision to keep him away and separate him so he could go to the locker room."
Atletico have no intention of selling to Barcelona and would apparently only authorise a transfer to Arsenal for a nine-figure sum. The Gunners seem unlikely to meet that valuation, but offloading Gabriel Martinelli to Al Hilal for a record fee could provide them with sufficient funds to table a bid that Atletico might accept, given the Alvarez situation is becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
