The first offer on the table came from Barcelona in May, with reports suggesting the club had opened talks to sign Alvarez.
But in what seems to be a recurrent pattern, Atletico were absolutely adamant that they would not sell Alvarez to Barcelona.
In May, they made a series of social media posts brutally mocking Barca's pursuit of their player to millions of followers, saying they were victims of a "smear campaign".
Alvarez went to the World Cup with Argentina with his future already a major talking point.
Then, in June, in came another big offer from Atleti's city rivals, Real Madrid.
Los Blancos made a €150m (£130m) offer for Alvarez after president Florentino Perez promised supporters that he would make a €150m bid for an unnamed "Galactico" if re-elected.
The offer was rejected by Atletico, with Real Madrid pointing to Alvarez's €500m (£430m) release clause and saying Atletico had "expressed its gratitude for the proposal".
Again, Atleti responded with humorous social media posts, denying any gratitude and remaining adamant that Alvarez would not be sold to Barcelona.
After Argentina's win over Austria in June, Alvarez told media that he had spoken to Atletico and he said that "the best thing for everyone is a transfer", adding: "I want to fulfil my dream".
Those comments effectively confirmed that, despite Atletico's insistence that he was not for sale, the player himself was open to leaving and Barcelona and Paris St-Germain were among the clubs reportedly interested.
Barcelona's interest in Alvarez was driven by their need for a long-term successor to Robert Lewandowski, who left the club this summer.
But Atletico maintained they did not want to sell Alvarez, with chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin saying the club would not sell him "even for 200m euros (£170.8m)".

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