Barcelona’s Last-Gasp Effort for Julian Alvarez Is Desperate at Best

The seemingly never-ending Julián Alvarez transfer saga added another twist on Wednesday when Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed the club remain “very interested in the player.”

Barcelona have spent the entire transfer window pushing to make the 26-year-old striker the heir to Robert Lewandowski in Catalonia. An initial offer was instantly rejected by Atlético Madrid in late May, and Los Rojiblancos have since been unwilling to even negotiate a potential Alvarez deal with the Catalans.

But Barcelona haven’t pivoted to other striker alternatives and Alvarez remains their foremost priority. With just six days left in the summer transfer window, Laporta made one final attempt to find a breakthrough and spoke publicly about Barça’s interest in the Argentine.

“The truth is that we’re very interested in the player [Alvarez],” Laporta said in a clip posted on Barcelona’s official channels. “We’d like our offer to be accepted and we say this with all due respect for Atlético Madrid. And we want them to know if they are open to selling this summer transfer window, we would be willing to buy the player in accordance with the offer we’ve submitted to them.”

Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Julián Alvarez — Lamine Yamal (left) and Pedri have publicly stated their wish for Julián Alvarez to join Barcelona. | Yamal, Pedri (Angel Martinez/Getty Images), Julián Alvarez (Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

Laporta didn’t stop there, he gave a detailed explanation of how the entire saga of their pursuit of Alvarez has unfolded so far.

“Before anything,” Laporta said. “We have the utmost respect for Atletico Madrid and a personal appreciation for their executives as well, because we’ve known each other for many years. This whole situation has created a lot of noise. This is not motivated by actions taken by Barca. It is motivated by the fact that Atletico told us they were not selling [Alvarez].

“However, it looks like, from what we hear now they are trying to reach agreements with other clubs. I want to tell Enrique Cerezo, with all the respect because I appreciate him a lot, that Barca have been up to the standards required in this situation, in the same way we do with other clubs.

“It happened to us in this window with Manchester City, as well as other clubs. We approach them to see if they want to sell one of their players. When they tell us they don’t sell, we let it go. But in this case, there are special circumstances that have been made aware Atletico Madrid want to sell the player to other clubs.”

Atletico Madrid Say They Are The ‘Victims’ of Alvarez Saga

Julián Alvarez had a hostile reception by Atlético Madrid fans in his season debut. | Angel Martinez/Getty Images

As has been the case during the entirety of the transfer saga, it didn’t take long for Atlético Madrid to issue a response to Laporta’s comments, once again sharing their discontent at Barcelona’s handling of the situation and repeating they won’t let Alvarez join the Catalans.

“The player is being portrayed as the victim, but the only victims in the Julian case are us,” Atlético Madrid said in a statement, per Marca. “We have been harmed both financially and socially. There is a 0% chance of selling him to Barça.

“This situation isn’t about money, it’s about dignity. A campaign full of lies and half-truths have been created. The only ones paying the price for all this are Atlético.”

Despite the constant pressure from Barcelona and Alvarez himself, Atlético Madrid continue to refuse to grant their wishes, even after the Argentine was serenaded with boos and insults by Atléti fans during the team’s home debut over the weekend.

The relationship between the player and club appears broken, yet that hasn’t altered Los Rojiblancos’ position on the matter. Selling to Barcelona isn’t in consideration; selling to other teams, though, could be entertained.

It’s Barcelona or Nothing for Julián Alvarez—Report

The strained bond between Alvarez and Atléti has resulted in the club being open to letting him leave so long as his destination isn’t Barcelona—which is what Laporta alluded to in his comments. Premier League champions Arsenal are the only other team seriously keen on acquiring the disgruntled center forward.

Atlético Madrid could be willing to negotiate with the Gunners and Mikel Arteta’s side has the financial might to pull off the purchase. The issue, though, is Alvarez reportedly isn’t interested in a return to English soccer.

According to Gastón Edul, Arsenal’s offer could surpass Barcelona’s original bid, but Alvarez isn’t enticed by the idea of a Premier League homecoming—where he spent two seasons with Man City—because of personal and family matters.

With less than a week to go in the window, Barcelona remain the one and only club Alvarez is interested in joining. At the same time, that’s the only club Atléti are unwilling to sell him to. Given the mounting evidence, there’s no reason to believe Los Rojiblancos will switch their stance before the end of the summer.

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