If Julian Alvarez is to leave Atletico Madrid this summer, the current reporting suggests that it will not be for Barcelona. Paris Saint-Germain have emerged as the favourites for his signature, and are reportedly already in talks over a deal.
Alvarez is Barcelona’s top target this summer to replace Robert Lewandowski this summer, but Sport say that Director of Football Deco is working on other options at the same time as pursuing the Argentina international. Their information is that while Barcelona are still in the race for Alvarez, they are ‘conscious of the difficulty’ of getting a deal done financially.
🚨 Álvaro Cortés: “We wanted to achieve 100 points and we don’t like to lose, but aside from that, it has been the best day of my life. I’ve been dreaming of this since I was born.” 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/KRDjOOFqp2
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) May 14, 2026
Last week Deco met with agent Juanma Lopez, who could act as an intermediary to make a deal happen, but ultimately, Alvarez will have to declare a desire to leave.
PSG operation for Julian Alvarez ‘underway’
As reported by MD, PSG are willing to pay in excess of €100m for Alvarez, making Barcelona’s pursuit of him difficult. As has often been the case for Barcelona in recent years, they would require the player to hold out for a move to Barcelona exclusively. In addition, Diario AS say that the operation between PSG and Atletico is underway. Already it had been reported that Los Colchoneros could negotiate for Goncalo Ramos and Kang-In Lee, moves that PSG could facilitate if Atletico do so with Alvarez. They say that the deals would be separate, but the cost of the 26-year-old forward could be as high as €140-150m.
🚨🇪🇸 Atlético Madrid are developing a special plan for Pablo Barrios following his injury.
He suffered 9 injuries in 3 seasons, missing 50 matches and spending 275 days sidelined.
The club remains fully confident in him and will use the summer to adjust his physical… pic.twitter.com/e5yehb95UT
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) May 14, 2026
Julian Alvarez is happy in Madrid
Simultaneously, if Alvarez does remain at the Metropolitano, he is in for a new lucrative contract. Matteo Moretto has told RadioMarca that Alvarez remains happy in the Spanish capital, and that if Alvarez has to choose between living in Spain or France, he is more likely to remain in La Liga.
He puts the figure of a potential deal between €100-130m, but notes that Barcelona could also include players in a deal. Moretto corroborates the idea that if Alvarez is to leave, he will have to declare a desire to do so publicly.
