Julian Alvarez will return to Atletico Madrid squad after 'learning experience' - Diego Simeone

Julian Alvarez will return to Atletico Madrid's squad for the La Liga game against Athletic Club after his failed attempt to leave acted as a "learning experience", says manager Diego Simeone.

The 26-year-old striker missed two days of training last week, citing illness as the reason, after being told privately Atletico would not sell him to Barcelona.

A potential move to Arsenal looked like the Argentina forward's only way out of the club, but nothing materialised and he has been reintegrated into team training after missing last weekend's league game at Sevilla.

"Julian Alvarez will be in the squad tomorrow. He's training well, and we expect the best from him, just as we do from all his team-mates," Simeone said.

"For me, life is full of opportunities. And Julian now has an opportunity.

"A lot of the time, we spend our lives judging, and we need to worry about doing that less and learning more. I hope this has served as a learning experience for him.

"I hope he's happy and, as [Paulo] Futre [Atletico Madrid's director of football] told him yesterday in a lovely video... that he shows it by scoring goals."

Atletico released two public statements in the space of 24 hours reiterating their stance that Alvarez would not be granted his wish to join rivals Barca.

Simeone's side, however, were open to selling Alvarez to Arsenal and held direct talks with the Premier League champions.

Last week, Simeone said he would "do everything" he could to make the 2022 World Cup winner "feel important" on his return.

Alvarez has scored 49 goals in 107 games for Atletico since joining for £81m from Manchester City in 2024, but is yet to win any silverware in Madrid.

Atletico travel to Bilbao to face Athletic Club on Saturday (15:15 BST kick-off).