Barcelona banking on World Cup to quell anger of Atletico Madrid amid race to sign Argentine forward

The future of Julian Alvarez has emerged as the biggest talking point in European football right now, and as the World Cup approaches, the situation is showing no signs of simplifying.

All parties involved continue to generate noise and confusion in equal measure, and the Argentine himself has chosen silence as his strategy, unwilling to fan the flames any further on the eve of the tournament.

PSG get the cold shoulder

Alvarez’s future remains a mystery. (Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)

According to Diario SPORT, PSG had hoped to reopen negotiations with Atletico Madrid and Alvarez’s camp following their Champions League final triumph.

But the player is entirely on board with the idea of joining the European champions, at least not in June.

Alvarez has communicated through his agent that PSG is not his priority. It is not a complete refusal, but the order of preferences is clear, as his first choice is to move to Camp Nou and join Barcelona.

That coolness did not go down well in Paris, with sporting director Luis Campos pointedly stating after the final that PSG would only pursue players who genuinely wanted to join them.

The World Cup as a reset

It promises to be an important World Cup for Alvarez. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

The problem for Barcelona is that Atletico Madrid have made their position equally clear. The Madrid club have no desire to sell Alvarez to a direct Spanish rival, and their public hostility towards Barcelona’s perceived maneuvering around the player has only hardened that stance.

With all three clubs now effectively stepping back from active negotiations and are willing to play the long game.

Both Barcelona and PSG are hoping that the World Cup will cool tempers, soften Atletico’s economic demands and create a more conducive atmosphere for dialogue once the tournament concludes.

For now, Atletico hold all the cards.