AS: Alvarez nears long-awaited Hidalgo decision after disastrous Barça saga

· IntoTheCalderon

Julián Alvarez reportedly is preparing to move on from his longtime agent, the embattled Fernando Hidalgo, following the significant damage done to his reputation in the summer transfer window. According to Edu Burgos in Diario AS, Julián’s father Gustavo is spearheading the charge to replace Hidalgo, who made a furious effort to move his client […]

Julián Alvarez reportedly is preparing to move on from his longtime agent, the embattled Fernando Hidalgo, following the significant damage done to his reputation in the summer transfer window.

According to Edu Burgos in Diario AS , Julián’s father Gustavo is spearheading the charge to replace Hidalgo, who made a furious effort to move his client to FC Barcelona in what became the summer’s defining transfer saga. In June, Alvarez made a public transfer demand at the FIFA World Cup that fell on deaf ears: Atlético de Madrid continued to point to the player’s long-term contract, which contains a €500 million termination clause.

The standoff between Atlético and Barcelona over Alvarez became global news, not to mention a huge embarrassment for the 26-year-old forward — whom Atleti fans have whistled in both home games he has played in 2026/27.

> EXC. Julián Alvarez sondea dejar a Fernando Hidalgo en los próximos meses. Su padre es el encargado directo de la decisión tras reunirse con varias agencias en las últimas semanas. Javier Pastore, de The Elegant Game, en cabeza. @diarioas https://t.co/MtOaEAzFSK > > — Eduardo Burgos (@edu17burgos) October 6, 2026

Per AS, Gustavo Alvarez has been holding talks with different agencies for weeks. But the frontrunner to replace Hidalgo — who has represented Alvarez since he played at River Plate — appears to be Javier Pastore, who represents Julián’s Argentina teammate Enzo Fernández (among others).

Burgos characterizes the negotiations for Pastore, himself a former Argentina international, to take over for Hidalgo as “advanced” and “missing only the final signature.” Hidalgo could be “reassigned” to an auxiliary position within Alvarez’s large entourage of family, friends and hangers-on — or he could leave Alvarez’s entorno entirely. Either way, Hidalgo’s seemingly imminent exit will go a long way toward smoothing over relations with Atlético, which defended Alvarez publicly for months even as the saga grew increasingly nasty .

As we have come to expect from Julián, the player himself has stayed out of negotiations to this point and is said to be focusing on his football. He scored his first goal in any competition this season in Saturday’s 7-0 friendly win over Burkina Faso, and he is expected to play once more Tuesday night, when Argentina face Benin in Buenos Aires for Lionel Messi’s national team farewell.

Sacking Hidalgo is the only thing Alvarez’s entourage could reasonably do following the summer-long — year-long, really — fiasco that culminated in the player staying at Atlético and continuing to honor his contract to 2030. Alvarez’s reputation is in the mud. Most Atleti fans can’t stand the sight of him, although — in a sign that relations could start to thaw — he did receive some cheers during a reasonably committed performance against Real Madrid last month.

Nonetheless, even though this move is painfully obvious and long overdue, it is a first step that some may call “good” toward repairing a relationship that has grown sour. And it never had to be this way.

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