“They were offended because they had no way to justify their attitude.” Joan Laporta said at Barcelona’s General Assembly, reopening the Julián Alvarez saga after Barcelona’s €100 million offer to Atletico Madrid failed. He also said Atletico filed complaints with FIFA and the RFEF over Barcelona’s conduct, which pushed a closed transfer story back into public view.
Laporta's version of the breakdown
Laporta said he called Miguel Angel Gil and was told Atletico were not selling because they had no alternative. He added, “I told him that if they did have one, they should let us know. They reacted out of line.”
A separate line went even further. “We were hearing that they would sell him to every club except Barça,” Laporta said, before adding that they later said it openly. The point is not that the move was close, because it was not. The point is that Barcelona’s bid and Atletico’s reaction have now become part of a wider public dispute.
The row also leaves room for the football side of the argument. Jay Bothroyd, speaking to the Standard, said Alvarez fits exactly what Arsenal need, and described him as someone who can play between the lines, wide, and on the shoulder. He also said, “We’ve seen that (he wants to leave) already.”
That appetite has not been formally confirmed, and the transfer noise still runs ahead of hard proof. What is clear is that Laporta has turned one failed pursuit into a fresh argument with Atletico, and the next reference point is whether either club says anything else before the market moves again.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →
