Julian Alvarez has stated that he wants to leave Atletico Madrid, saying he wants to fulfil his dream elsewhere.
The Argentina international has been linked with a string of the biggest clubs in the world, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal all keen on signing him.
The 26-year-old scored 20 goals in all competitions for Atletico last season after 29 in the previous campaign.
His form since moving to Spain since leaving Manchester City has attracted heavyweight interest, with Real Madrid making a €150 million (£129.4m) bid for him earlier this month.
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Atletico have insisted that if anyone wants to buy Alvarez they will have to pay his whopping release clause of €500m (£431m).
Alvarez has now confirmed that he does want to leave, presumably hoping to encourage his club to accept a lower bid than that.
Asked about interest in him, the forward told ESPN: ‘Honestly, I don’t know.
‘I don’t think it’s the right time to talk about this, but I can’t hide or pretend otherwise either. I try to be an honest person. I spoke with the people at the club I needed to speak with.
‘The best thing for everyone is a transfer. I want to fulfil my dream.’
No club is going to meet Atletico’s demand and pay £431m for the Argentine, so negotiations will have to take place between his current club and Alvarez’s suitors.
The forward is believed to be pushing for a move to Barcelona, but Atletico do not want to sell their star forward to their rivals.
Reports of a 90m euros (£77.9m) approach for Alvarez was mocked by Atletico in May, suggesting they were coming up with a unique bid for Lamine Yamal.
Atletico tweeted: ‘HERE WE GO! We have sent a fax to @FCBarcelona_es
with our transfer offer: 4 tickets for tomorrow’s Bad Bunny concert, an annual subscription to ABC, and a bag of sunflower seeds. We eagerly await the response to prepare the ‘announce’.
Alvarez has not started either of Argentina’s games so far at the World Cup, coming off the bench in the wins over Algeria and Austria.
He will hope to get a run out in the starting XI in the final group stage game against Jordan on Sunday.