Diego Simeone drew a line, for now, under the Julián Álvarez affair on Saturday, confirming the unsettled Argentine will be part of Atlético Madrid's squad for Sunday's home LaLiga game against Villarreal and warning his own supporters against abusing the striker.
Álvarez has spent the opening days of the season at the centre of a messy transfer saga, with the forward making no secret of his desire to leave for Barcelona. Simeone left him out of the squad entirely for Atlético's league opener against Málaga, citing his physical condition after a stop-start pre-season.
That match ended with a section of the Metropolitano crowd, in the south stand, directing insults at Álvarez over his push to leave the club he joined from Manchester City. Simeone's initial response to the jeering was muted, and only in the build-up to the Villarreal game did he address it directly.
"My respect for the fans is absolute, but I will not accept curses or insults," Simeone told reporters, according to ONE, drawing a clearer line than he had in the immediate aftermath of the Málaga match.
The coach was unambiguous about where Álvarez stands within his squad, regardless of the noise around his future. "Julián is important, we need him, and we are going to support him," he said, adding a near-identical line moments later: "He's very important, we need him, we're going to look after him."
Simeone also pushed back on any suggestion that Álvarez's professionalism has slipped amid the transfer speculation. "Julián trains in the best possible way, with respect toward his teammates," he said, describing the striker's conduct on the training ground as beyond reproach.
Asked to look ahead, the Argentine coach steered the conversation firmly back to football. "The important thing is Villarreal, and nothing else," he said, keen to shift focus away from the transfer noise and onto a Sunday fixture Atlético need to win to build early-season momentum.
Kick-off at the Metropolitano is set for 18:00 Israel time on Sunday, with ONE carrying the match live. Whether Simeone actually starts Álvarez, and how the home crowd reacts if he does, remains the open question hanging over the club's start to the campaign.
The Barcelona move itself remains unresolved, with talks between the clubs continuing in the background. For now, Simeone's message is that his squad list, not the transfer saga, will decide who plays.
