FC Barcelona sporting director Deco and chief scout Joao Amaral traveled to Madrid to meet with Fernando Hidalgo, the agent of Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez, as the club continues its pursuit of the Argentine just over a week before the start of the 2026/27 La Liga season.
Alvarez, 26, wants to leave Atletico Madrid for Barcelona but remains a player of the Madrid club after recent attempts by Barcelona president Joan Laporta to broker a deal ended in failure. Spanish media reported around 9:30 p.m. local time that Deco and Amaral had arrived in the capital for the meeting.
Atletico stands firm
Atletico Madrid's leadership remains opposed to selling the player, according to journalist Carlos Monfort of the Spanish outlet Sport, cited by fcbarca.com. Monfort said Deco and Amaral were planning an imminent meeting with Hidalgo to keep developing the strategy behind an operation that remains a top priority for Barcelona's sporting management, with the meeting possibly taking place that day or the next in a discreet Madrid location away from media attention.
Monfort said Barcelona privately acknowledge the operation is currently at a difficult point, while Atletico Madrid's position remains firm, with the club not considering letting go of one of its most important players. He added that complicated institutional relations between the two clubs were also complicating negotiations of this scale.
Barcelona still hopeful
Monfort said Alvarez remains Barcelona's main transfer target, with no one in the club willing to give up on him. Laporta and Deco reportedly view the Argentine as their top priority for strengthening the attack and believe scenarios still exist to explore before declaring the deal impossible. According to Monfort, the meeting with Hidalgo was meant to review a plan drawn up months earlier and assess the next steps.
Monfort also said Barcelona's leadership believe the player himself has expressed a wish to wear the Barcelona shirt.
Lewandowski's exit and other transfer moves
Barcelona's attack has already been strengthened this summer by the arrivals of Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi. Laporta and his staff do not intend to stop there, as they search for a replacement for Robert Lewandowski, who moved to Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.
The future of Ferran Torres is also unclear, with the winger linked to a move to Paris Saint-Germain. Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique appears to be a leading advocate of that transfer.
