Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has made his first public statements on the future of Julian Alvarez since his star forward declared a desire to leave the club last month. Alvarez has been courted by Barcelona, as well as Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, and is reportedly keen on a move to the Catalan club.

Despite that, Atletico Madrid have been adamant that not only is Alvarez not for sale, but that Barcelona cannot afford him. Simeone held little bitterness towards Alvarez though, and left the door open to continue at the club.

“He is an extraordinary footballer, the best player we have at Atletico Madrid; his numbers speak for themselves. He has shown great consistency and has made a real impact on the team, proving himself to be a special kind of player. We are very happy with his work; I can’t say anything other than what I’ve already told you, because he has conducted himself well as a person. He is a guy who has always worked in the best possible way for the good of the team,” he said to ESPN.

"EL MEJOR FUTBOLISTA QUE TENEMOS EN EL ATLÉTICO DE MADRID, ENTRE LOS MEJORES 5 DEL MUNDO ESTÁ SIN DUDAS. SI SE QUEDA TENEMOS PENSADO GENERAR EL JUEGO ALREDEDOR DE ÉL"

? ATENCIÓN: ¡El Cholo Simeone habló sobre el futuro de Julián Álvarez, destacó que se comportó bien como… pic.twitter.com/aB76pUqNoP

— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) July 3, 2026

Diego Simeone meets with Julian Alvarez

Simeone went on to confirm that he spoke to Alvarez during a visit to the Argentina national team at their World Cup base, albeit not one specifically to see Alvarez.

“I actually ran into Giuliano and spent a little while chatting with him, mostly about how things were going for him, the state of his ankle, and his importance to the team. He told me he was doing really well and was back to 100%. I think that in the second match, regardless of not being as sharp as he usually is, he already showed a different rhythm of play and a different intensity in his movements, and Argentina is going to need that.”

“Things will be resolved, as they always are” – Simeone

The Atletico manager also made it clear that he sees Alvarez as a cornerstone of the team for many years to come, despite his desire to leave.

“He is the player around whom we plan to build our game. His future is, above all, tomorrow’s match; the best thing for him is to focus on that and not dwell on all these things that have surfaced, so they don’t cause him any confusion. And things will be resolved just as they always do in life.”

It seems tricky for Alvarez to continue at Atletico, following his statements, which have turned many fans against him. Nevertheless, it would not be the first time that Simeone has helped reintegrate a shunned star, with Antoine Griezmann before him actually making the move to Barcelona before earning back the love of the fans.

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Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has maintained his steadfast optimism about his side’s chances of lifting the 2026 World Cup this month, ahead of their clash with Austria on Thursday night. La Roja are looking to win their first knockout tie since 2010 at the World Cup, after crashing out early in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

Many have been disappointed with La Roja’s performances so far, only seeming to click into gear for the opening period against Saudi Arabia in their second group game. De la Fuente explained that he was pleased with the progress the side was making.

“We really thrive on high standards. We are the first to demand the best of ourselves. You have to adapt to your opponents; that drives improvement. The team is already starting to show many of the automatisms from the past, but we are also very pleased with what we have shown so far. Now there is no margin for error – we have to win,” he told Marca.

“As the days go by, I become more optimistic. To me, they are the best in the world. There are surprises, but it depends on who you ask. Not for me. You have to be at your best and avoid making mistakes. I am demanding and realistic, but increasingly optimistic.”

De la Fuente responds to Grimaldo comments

Earlier in the week, new Atletico Madrid signing Alejandro Grimaldo had admitted that he was finding it difficult to remain on the bench behind Marc Cucurella thus far. This was taken as the first sign of potential discontent in the Spain camp, but de la Fuente

“These players are top-tier talents, and here, the simple mathematics are that only eleven can play. But there is an aspect more important than ambition: respect and getting along with one another. Accepting that teammates have the right to play. You have to want what’s best for the team. It’s not about ego, or rather, it’s about positive ego, but the priority here is the team.”

Injury updates on Victor Munoz, Nico Williams and Yeremy Pino

Part of the conversation surrounding Spain’s play has been the inability to call on a number of his best attacking options. Lamine Yamal is expected to be able to feature for the entire match against Austria though.

“He’s ready to play as much as is required of him. We’ve been very cautious with the timeline. We’ll see if he plays [laughs].”

There were fears that Nico Williams and Yeremy Pino would miss the remainder of the World Cup after sustaining fresh injuries against Uruguay. However Pino is expected to be on the bench.

“Yeremy’s situation has been miraculous. It’s nothing serious; he has trained completely normally. Víctor has also trained normally, but he hasn’t played competitively for a while, so we’ll see how the match unfolds… And Nico, thank God, is only experiencing mild discomfort. It rules him out for tomorrow, but we are very optimistic; if we manage to advance, he should be ready for the next match.”

New Liverpool signing Victor Munoz is yet to feature for Spain this tournament, and has not played competitive football since mid-May. He is expected to be on the bench against Austria, but given the absence of Williams, his return could be key for La Roja if they make it into the latter stages.

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Morten Hjulmand is set to be Atletico Madrid’s first major signing of the summer after a potential €40m deal was agreed.

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The Premier League transfer market has been set alight by Tottenham in the last few days, with major signings throughout the team.

Across Europe, it’s starting to warm up too as liquidity is pumped into the market. Atletico Madrid look like they could be next to make a major signing, as Spanish paper Marca report today.

Atletico to sign up all action Sporting midfielder

Their top transfer journalist Matteo Moretto reports that there is a “total agreement” between Atletico and Sporting CP over the transfer of energetic midfielder Morten Hjulmand.

The fee is expected to be somewhere between €35m and €40m for the 27 year old who has been a key part of Sporting’s recent success. Extensive for Joao Gomes of Wolves and Bernardo Silva on a free transfer both ended up going nowhere, meaning Atletico had to look further down their list of targets.

Diego Simeone’s side hope to follow this up with the signing of attacker Kang-in Lee from PSG, a deal which Moretto is at a similar stage of completion and will end up costing a similar amount.

In other news…

Just when you thought things had calmed down in the Premier League, a shock manager change has come out of nowhere.

Nicolas Jackson is set to return to Chelsea now that the World Cup is over, and there are some big questions about his future to be answered.

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