Julian Alvarez given Sunday deadline to decide Atletico Madrid future

Atletico de Madrid have told Argentina striker Julian Alvarez to decide his future by Sunday, with Arsenal and Manchester City both interested in signing him before Tuesday’s transfer deadline.

The Spanish club are understood to be surprisingly open to selling the 26-year-old, provided they receive a fee of £128m.

Arsenal are strongly pursuing the 2022 World Cup winner, while Manchester City have held talks about bringing Alvarez back to the club, according to reports in recent days.

The situation has intensified after Alvarez missed four days of training with his Atletico de Madrid team-mates this week. He has also been undecided about a possible move to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

Sky Sports reports that frustrated Atletico officials have given Alvarez until Sunday to settle his position. The deadline comes as the forward prepares to miss the club’s trip to Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, where Atletico are due to face Sevilla this evening.

Alvarez appeared determined to leave the Wanda Metropolitano in June. At the time, he said he had spoken to the relevant people at Atletico and believed a transfer was the best solution for everyone.

“I spoke to the people at Atletico that I needed to speak to, and the best thing for everyone is to move on. I want to achieve my dream. It is not the right time to talk about this, but I cannot hide it either. I try to be an honest person,” he said.

A move to Arsenal would represent a major signing for manager Mikel Arteta, although the Arsenal boss declined to discuss the potential transfer in detail.

“The matter is very simple. Whatever you read, if you have a question, come and knock on my door and I will tell you whether it is true or not, because any player in any position, if they read everything that is written, we can put a list on the walls of all the players we have wanted to sign over the past three months, and we would need the whole building,” said Arteta.

He said Arsenal wanted to ensure existing players were not left uncertain by the volume of speculation surrounding possible arrivals.

“They know there is a lot of speculation. So if at any moment they have doubts about our opinion of them, and whether we are going to bring in a new player, I tell them straight away, and if we are going to bring in a player in their position, I usually tell them that too. I say to them: these are the plans and these are the reasons,” Arteta added.

“We still believe in you, but the competition is going to increase. I prefer to deal with it in this way,” he said.

Alvarez joined Atletico de Madrid after making his name at Manchester City, and a return to the Premier League champions is now being considered alongside Arsenal’s interest. Atletico’s demand for a decision by Sunday leaves limited time for any agreement to be reached before the transfer window closes on Tuesday.