José Luis Martínez-Almeida, the mayor of Madrid, has weighed in on Julián Álvarez's status at Atlético Madrid.
Álvarez wanted to join Barcelona this summer, but Atlético refused to consider a deal, with the club's fans left angry by the forward's attitude.
An Atlético supporter, Martínez-Almeida told Cadena Cope: "Am I angry with Julián? Yes. Does showing that anger do us any good? No. This might be controversial among Atlético supporters, I don't demand from Julián an apology but I ask him to score goals."
During this summer's World Cup, Álvarez made public his desire to leave Atlético to "fulfil his dream."
The Argentina international, who was also a target of Arsenal, was whistled by his own fans when he returned to the club after the tournament.
Álvarez has yet to score this season but played his first full game of the campaign in Atlético's 2-1 Champions League defeat at Liverpool on Wednesday.
He provided the assist for Marcos Llorente to score.
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"What we all need to do is get Julián back on track, because otherwise, come next year, his value will be cut in half -- among other things," Martínez-Almeida said. "Even though the 'I want to fulfill my dream' comment hurt us, I don't think an apology gets us anywhere; what we need to do is ask him to score goals and judge him based on that."
Álvarez, 26, has 49 goals and 18 assists in 109 games for Atlético, the club he joined from Manchester City for £81.5 million ($110m) in the summer of 2024.
