Barcelona's latest move came in the form of a meeting in Madrid between sporting director Deco and Fernando Hidalgo, the Argentine's representative, a summit that has produced a shift in strategy for the club's efforts to bring the forward to the Camp Nou.
Ălvarez will no longer be expected to repeat the kind of public gesture he made during the World Cup in the United States, when he told reporters in the mixed zone he wanted to be transferred because he "wanted to fulfil a dream."
Instead, the club will now favour a diplomatic, dialogue-based approach: Ălvarez will report for training with Atletico Madrid as normal and avoid public comments, waiting instead for a meeting first with his head coach and then with the club's hierarchy to reiterate that he wants to leave the Metropolitano and that Barcelona is the only destination he will accept.
Given the positions held so far by both Diego Simeone and Miguel Ăngel Gil, who have been firm in opposing any sale, it remains to be seen whether this new approach opens up a path forward.
Atlético's decision-makers will have to weigh the risk of keeping a player who has told them he wants out, and who will keep reminding them of a promise his representative says was made that he would be allowed to leave if a suitable offer arrived.
Barcelona had already tested the waters with an offer of close to âŹ100m during the World Cup, which AtlĂ©tico rejected, and the figure has since risen incrementally, first approaching that mark and now understood to be closer to âŹ120m.
Ălvarez himself considers Barcelona's proposal to be a good one for both parties, a view AtlĂ©tico do not share. Logically, any renewed dialogue between the player and his club would need to be accompanied by a substantial improvement in Barcelona's financial offer if it is to have any chance of success, with the two sides still some distance apart on valuation despite the growing figures being discussed.