Onda Cero reports that the Argentina forward is seriously weighing up leaving Fernando Hidalgo, the agent who has represented him throughout his career. He has already had contact with The Elegant Game, the agency run by former player Javier Pastore, which also represents his friend Enzo Fernández.
Mundo Deportivo adds that no decision has been taken, but that people close to Álvarez have been raising the idea for some time because they feel Hidalgo has not handled his affairs well. Inside Atlético, meanwhile, the club have not hesitated to name the agent as chiefly responsible for what has happened.
The story follows a summer in which Álvarez pushed for a move to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid refused to sell, rejecting Barcelona's approach. Chief executive Miguel Ángel Gil Marín has pointed at the player's entourage, and at Barcelona, for the situation, and had earlier said Álvarez "has not had the best advisers close to him regarding his professional career in recent months".
Arsenal also made a serious attempt, though while Atletico were open to selling to the Londoners, Alvarez rejected the prospect.
"Julián is really in a bad way. There have been people who have taken it upon themselves to deceive him, to confuse him," he said.
Hidalgo answered earlier criticism from Gil Marín on social media with a message that read: "Never ask a liar why he lied. To explain it he would have to lie again."
With Álvarez having accepted for some time that he will stay at the club, a break with Hidalgo would be read as a goodwill gesture, an attempt to repair relations with Atlético and with supporters, who have received no sign of contrition from the player since the summer.
That was the point made by former Atlético defender Diego Godín on Onda Cero's Radioestadio Noche this week.
"Now he'll have to take it on the chin and, if he wants to repair the relationship, make good gestures towards the fans."
The saga has consequences beyond the player himself, for Atlético and for coach Diego Simeone, whose side host Real Madrid in the derby on Sunday.