The Argentina international remains Barcelona's top target to replace Robert Lewandowski as the club's most advanced attacking option, a position he has occupied for months despite Atletico Madrid's continued refusal to accept the offer already presented by the Catalan club. Barcelona's coaching staff, executives and board all remain confident the deal will eventually go through.
Club president Joan Laporta has made clear that pressure from the player himself could prove decisive.
"When a player wants to leave, Barcelona's attitude as a club is that if he wants to go, we won't stand in his way. A big club cannot afford to have players who are unhappy," Laporta said recently. Alvarez is reportedly considering skipping Diego Simeone's scheduled return to training on August 10, the date set for World Cup finalists to resume work at Atletico.
Barcelona believe Atletico Madrid will eventually give way, not only because of the stance the Argentine is expected to maintain in the coming days, having already decided he wants to sign for the Catalan club, but also because the offer on the table, while economically significant, falls short of Atletico's demand of the player's €500million release clause and comes with an expiry date. That time limit is one of the forms of pressure Barcelona's board are deliberately applying.
Atletico have remained unmoved so far and are refusing to sanction a sale, despite the player expressing his desire to move to Barcelona as far back as May. Executives at the Metropolitano have been careful not to blame the player himself for his stance, instead directing frustration towards his representatives, keen to preserve their relationship with a forward they still hope to keep.
Barcelona, despite Atletico's repeated refusals, remain confident of a change of heart, though they also have alternative targets prepared in case negotiations collapse.
"There have been so many cases where it was said a player would never come to Barca and ended up doing so...
"We have made a very significant offer. If they are willing to accept it, fantastic, but it won't remain open indefinitely. We have to make a decision. Whether we maintain the offer or not depends on how these remaining two weeks of July go," Laporta added.
Flick wants to know as soon as possible which players he can count on for a project built around winning the Champions League, and has watched the weeks pass without Alvarez's arrival being confirmed.
Both Deco and Laporta have sought to reassure him that the deal will eventually be completed, banking on Spain's World Cup success, built around eight Barcelona players, to further convince the Argentine that joining a champion dressing room is the right move.