The Julian Alvarez saga is picking up steam ahead of the summer, with Barcelona pushing to sign the Atletico Madrid man as their Robert Lewandowski replacement. An opening offer is already being prepared, although it would fall far below the reported asking price of €150m.
As part of the speculation, there have been reports that Atleti are open to selling Alvarez under certain conditions, which has Barcelona supporters hope that a deal can be done. However, Los Colchoneros officials have now furiously denied this, and all other talk of the Catalans getting their man, during an explosive statement published in Marca, during which they have called out the “pre-established campaign” that has taken place regarding the Argentina international.
“There has been no offer for our player or any meeting. We are tired of months of lies, half-truths, harassment of our players in mixed zones and absurd questions that are part of a pre-established campaign.
“It’s a matter of agents, Julián has had an exquisite behaviour at all times. He has left his skin on the pitch and has shown maximum professionalism at all times. We know that all this noise has not been caused by him, he has always behaved perfectly.”
Where do we go from here?
Atleti have always been clear that they want Alvarez to stay, as they consider him to be the cornerstone of their project. And despite interest being shown from Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, they are very clear that no deal will be considered during the upcoming summer transfer window.
This would leave the Catalans in a tight spot. Alvarez is undoubtedly their priority target for the summer, but if Atleti do not budge, there is absolutely nothing they can do about it. Ultimately, they may need to consider other options, although that won’t happen until they themselves decide that a deal cannot be done during the transfer window.
