Wantaway Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez returned to group training on Sunday after recovering from the illness that kept him out of training earlier this week and Saturday’s 3-1 La Liga win over Sevilla.

With two days remaining before the transfer window closes at midnight Tuesday, the Argentina international is back with the squad as Barcelona continue to pursue his signature.

Atletico have repeatedly ruled out negotiating Alvarez’s departure to Barcelona, with director of football Mateu Alemany reiterating the club’s firm stance on Saturday.

“The club has been very clear and very firm,” Alemany told Movistar.

“The plan is very clear,” he continued. “(Alvarez) had a few days when he wasn’t feeling well, he already trained (by himself on Friday), and we hope he’ll reintegrate with us quickly and be available, I hope, for the next league match.”

Chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin said Thursday that Atletico would “not negotiate with Barcelona under any circumstances”, a position backed by the club’s board.

Spanish media have reported that a move to England could provide an alternative, although that option is not believed to appeal to 2022 World Cup winner Alvarez, who said this summer he would like to leave Atletico.

Alvarez was jeered by the club’s own supporters last weekend when he came on against Villarreal as a substitute, and he walked off down the tunnel by himself while his team-mates applauded Atletico’s fans.

Chelsea maintained their perfect start to the new Premier League season as they held on to defeat Brighton in an entertaining match at Stamford Bridge.

Romeo Lavia’s first goal in a Chelsea shirt handed the Blues a dream start in Xabi Alonso’s first home league game in charge.

Brighton were made to pay for a costly error inside four minutes as Mats Wieffer did well on the goalline to block Joao Pedro’s header from a corner but goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen then fumbled to allow an easy tap-in for Lavia.

Their lead was doubled 10 minutes later when Morgan Rogers got the better of Brighton’s record signing Luka Vuskovic on the left and crossed in for Pedro Neto to get in front of Ferdi Kadioglu and prod home.

The Seagulls were caught out again in the 32nd minute. This time left wing-back Jorrel Hato beat Wieffer for pace and found Joao Pedro to make it 3-0 against his former club.

But the visitors valiantly fought back to give themselves a glimmer of hope.

They pulled one back before the break as Chelsea debutant Emi Martinez came off his line to deny Charalampos Kostoulas and Malick Yalcouye volleyed in the loose ball.

Brighton started the second half strongly and reduced the deficit further in the 63rd minute when Yalcouye played in Pascal Gross, whose shot took a big deflection off Joao Pedro to beat Martinez.

Cole Palmer eased Chelsea’s nerves with a brilliant individual goal, curling past Verbruggen from outside the box to restore his side’s two-goal lead in the 74th minute.

Brighton found a third goal from virtually the final action of the game as Gross headed past Martinez, but Fabian Hurzeler’s side could not complete their comeback.

Alonso sprang a surprise by naming Martinez in the starting line-up – less than four hours after his £7.5m move was confirmed by the club.

It is a lifeline for Martinez, who turns 34 next week and fell out of favour at Aston Villa following a failed move to Juventus and the arrival of Japan’s Zion Suzuki as Unai Emery’s first-choice keeper.

The World Cup winner’s every catch was cheered on by the Stamford Bridge faithful during an assured display in goal, though he was unlucky to concede two of Brighton’s three goals, his save landing on the feet of Yalcouye for the opener and then getting undone by Joao Pedro’s own goal.

His best moment came just before Brighton’s second when he made a sharp diving save from Diego Gomez and he also denied Olivier Boscagli and Brighton a third, which would have levelled the score.

Chelsea have spent heavily across the pitch under their new ownership, but for many, a reliable goalkeeper was the missing piece.

Martinez’s performance on his debut suggests they might have a solution in the Argentine.

Meanwhile, there will now be question marks over Robert Sanchez’s future in west London.

The Spaniard, who had another error-strewn display during the 3-2 opening win at Fulham, was left out of the matchday squad completely as 21-year-old Belgian Mike Penders found a place on the bench as Alonso’s number two.

It might well be the case that Sanchez, who was a £25m signing from Brighton in 2023, now joins the long list of players Chelsea are looking to offload before the transfer window closes on Tuesday.

With an experienced shot-stopper in their ranks and the attack continuing to fire Alonso’s Chelsea could aim high this season, but their biggest test yet will come at champions Arsenal who they face next on Sunday, 6 September (16:30 BST).

Their emphatic 4-0 victory over Villa on the opening weekend set expectations high for another season under Hurzeler, who has steered Brighton to back-to-back eighth-placed finishes since taking charge in 2024.

But they were given a reality check by a Chelsea attack brimming with quality.

Brighton’s backline, including £46m summer signing Vuskovic, struggled to cope with the width provided by wing-backs Hato and Neto as well as the creativity of their front three of Palmer, Rogers and Joao Pedro in the first half.

Hurzeler will draw positives from a much-improved display in the second half as they went close to grabbing a point, despite the excursions of a midweek outing against Norway’s Tromso to book their Conference League place.

Yalcouye’s performance was a bright spot, with the 20-year-old Ivorian playing a key role in their first two goals.

He has spent the past two seasons on loan at Sturm Graz and Swansea City despite joining Brighton in 2024 but this display showed he can do a job at the Seagulls this year.

And for Hurzeler, the challenge will be to ensure the Brighton side that emerged after half-time is the norm rather than the one that was overrun in first half.

Brighton kicked off their new Premier League campaign in emphatic fashion by thrashing Europa League winners Aston Villa 4-0 at Amex Stadium.

It only took the Seagulls eight minutes to take the lead as Maxim de Cuyper forced an own goal out of Victor Lindelof before the Belgian added his name to the scoresheet 10 minutes later with an easy finish to make it 2-0.

Villa crumbled as Jack Hinshelwood then struck two goals in as many minutes to put Brighton 4-0 up, before the visitors were reduced to 10 men following a red card for Joao Gomes, who lasted only 40 minutes on a nightmare debut.

Unai Emery’s side capitulated completely after a promising start.

Emiliano Buendia almost gave the visitors the lead inside five minutes after he stole possession in the final third but missed the bottom corner by inches.

Brighton, however, capitalised on the first chance that came their way as Villa defender Pau Torres’ blind pass into his own box found De Cuyper, whose shot struck the post before going in off Lindelof.

Georginio Rutter then made a well-timed run to get behind the Villa defence and cut back for De Cuyper to turn home from six yards to double his side’s lead.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side were 3-0 up at the half-hour mark as De Cuyper’s cross from the left was knocked back across the goal by Diego Gomez for Hinshelwood to tap in.

Only a minute later, Yasin Ayari robbed Gomes of possession in the Villa box and Hinshelwood made no mistake to grab his second goal of the game.

Villa’s afternoon went from bad to worse before the eventful half came to a close as Joao Gomes, already on a yellow card, kicked out at Rutter and received a straight red following a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

Though Villa managed to keep Brighton at bay in the second half, the damage had long been done to Emery’s side.

“Silence,” said Emery when asked pre-match about Ollie Watkins’ absence from the Villa squad.

But the noise surrounding the club is only bound to grow louder after their horror show in Brighton.

Watkins looks likely to be the latest to leave Villa this summer with the England striker linked with a move to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal.

Goalkeeper Emi Martinez’s future also remain uncertain following a failed move to Juventus and the arrival of Japan’s Zion Suzuki.

It lays bare the task Emery has to replicate last season’s success, having also lost Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa this summer – all core members of the group.

Even then, the manner of the defeat in the league opener hints Emery’s problems this season could run far deeper.

Gomes recovered from an injury in time to start the opener but the midfielder, signed from Wolves for £38m, put in a display that could contend for one of the worst debuts.

The Brazilian was cautioned for waving an imaginary card at the referee, gave away the ball in the box for Brighton’s fourth goal and was then sent off for kicking out at Rutter.

After securing fourth place in the Premier League and then winning the Europa League last season, Villa were always going to face a challenge to match those heights.

But this opening display will raise questions whether Emery’s side could be heading in the opposite direction.

Brighton, meanwhile, could not have asked for a better start to the new season.

Like Villa, they have also lost key personnel during the transfer window in defender Jan Paul van Hecke and season striker Danny Welbeck, with midfielder Carlos Baleba likely to join them in leaving soon.

Yet, Hurzeler was still able to field a side that looked far closer to Brighton’s first-choice line-up than the one Emery could.

Club-record signing Luka Vuskovic started at centre-back on his Premier League debut and produced an assured display while goals from De Cuyper and Hinshelwood would be a welcome sight as they look to replace Welbeck’s output.

Without a recognised striker, Rutter started up front and, despite not getting on the scoresheet, was central during Brighton’s attacking spree in the first half.

Hurzeler and his players will have little time to savour their start as attention will turn to the Conference League play-off second leg against Norway’s Tromso on Thursday, 27 August (19:30 BST), after a goalless draw last week.