Julian Alvarez back at Atletico as Barcelona move remains clouded by legal dispute

A legal precedent could give Julian Alvarez a route to challenge his Atletico de Madrid contract and pursue a move to Barcelona, as the Argentina striker returned to training on Monday amid continued uncertainty over his future.

Alvarez began preparations for the 2026-27 season after completing his holiday. According to Spanish newspaper AS, the 27-year-old underwent medical tests before completing individual training designed to rebuild his fitness ahead of the new campaign.

He had been expected to meet Atletico coach Diego Simeone or chief executive Gil Marin on Monday to reaffirm his desire to join Barcelona. However, that meeting will have to wait after both men were absent from the club’s training base.

When the meeting eventually takes place, Atletico’s position is expected to remain unchanged. AS reports that the club’s response to Alvarez’s request to negotiate a transfer to Barcelona will be: “Apologise and get to work.”

The reaction underlines the difficulty facing any proposed move, with Atletico maintaining a firm stance and showing no willingness to soften its position.

Barcelona are prepared to make a significant financial effort to sign Alvarez, but the transfer remains highly complicated while Atletico remain determined to retain the forward.

Against that backdrop, legal expert Miguel Galan has revived a case from 2005 which he believes could provide Alvarez with a possible judicial route away from the Madrid club. The precedent is known as the “Zubiaurre case”, involving Iban Zubiaurre’s move from Real Sociedad to Athletic Club.

In 2005, Zubiaurre paid €500,000 to Real Sociedad to obtain his “letter of freedom” and attempted to join Athletic Club without a transfer fee. Real Sociedad then took the matter to court, arguing that small-print provisions in the player’s contract allowed the club to extend the agreement unilaterally and increase the release clause to €30m.

Social Court No. 1 in San Sebastian ruled that a €30m release clause was excessive and disproportionate, reducing it to €5m. The Supreme Court later upheld that compensation figure.

The legal process continued until 2008, while Zubiaurre was unable to play for more than a year because of the dispute. Galan believes the case established that the social courts can examine a contractual release clause if it is disproportionate and restricts a player’s professional freedom.

Galan, president of the National Centre for Training Football Coaches and a sports-law specialist, wrote on X: “Let everyone draw their own conclusions.”

Toni Freixa, a former Barcelona official and former candidate for the club’s presidency, expressed a similar view on the same social media platform.

“The release clause in Julian’s contract, because of the lack of proportion between its value and his salary and market value, is legally void because it constitutes a circumvention of the law,” Freixa said. “Any judge in the social courts would declare that. If Alvarez wants to take on this fight, he will win it by a large margin.”

The debate over Alvarez’s next move continues, although the player has not been more explicit in publicly outlining his intentions. Barcelona remain ready to make a major financial commitment, while Atletico insist they will not negotiate and expect the striker to continue working with the team.