Atletico Madrid set today as deadline for Julian Alvarez decision after four-day training absence

The Julian Alvarez transfer saga is now taking an ugly turn as it has come to light that the situation is taking a toll on the player’s mental health.

The Argentine star has been clear about his desire to join Barcelona for a long time now, but Atletico Madrid have struggled to swallow their pride and permit the move to a direct rival.

Instead, they worsened ties with Barcelona and made clear that a transfer to Catalonia was impossible, and even went on to force the player to move to Arsenal against his will.

Overall, the situation has affected Alvarez deeply and he is now said to be suffering from depression.

Continual absence from training

As reported previously, the striker has missed training with his club for three days now from Wednesday to Friday.

Now, however, Marcos Duran brings to light that the player has not missed three, but four days of training. The first of the four days skipped the media’s eye and went under the radar.

On Tuesday, Atletico Madrid organised a session for the injured players and World Cup returnees, and everyone attended the session except Alvarez. The club were not happy at the time but overlooked his absence.

On Tuesday evening, one of his family members informed the club that he was unwell and would not attend on Wednesday. Since then, he has gone three days without making an appearance in training.

Deadline in sight

Alvarez’s absence from Wednesday’s training sessions raised internal concerns at the club since the player was not responding to any messages. Mateu Alemanu thus made a trip to his house to discuss the situation and try to find a solution.

Since then, Julian, his family and his representatives have been in continual talks with the club to find a solution as his options dwindled, and the player is now running out of time.

The Spanish journalist, after all, confirms that today is the final day set by the club as a deadline.

By tonight, the player must choose one of the two options given to him – to apologise and stay or move to Arsenal. It remains to be seen how the coming hours play out.