‘I Have My Suspicions’—Barcelona President’s Scathing Statement Ends Julian Alvarez Saga

Atlético Madrid had “no way to justify” their intentionally stubborn approach to the Julián Alvarez transfer saga this summer, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has claimed.

Reports of a bid worth €100 million ($116 million) surfaced towards the end of May and ignited a prickly feud between the two teams at Atlético did their best to resist Barcelona’s efforts to land the Argentine’s signature, even rebuffing Alvarez’s own public plea to leave the club.

Atlético repeatedly insisted they would not do business with Barcelona and looked too offload Alvarez elsewhere, with Arsenal known admirers, but the striker refused to deviate from his desire to move to Camp Nou. Ultimately, the biggest saga of the summer led to absolutely nothing.

“They acted offended; they had no way to justify their attitude,” Laporta reflected. “We did what’s usually done: there was club-to-club communication, and then I spoke personally with [Atlético president] Gil Marín.

“He told me [Alvarez] wasn’t coming because they had no alternative. I told him that if they find one, he should tell us.

“Then they reacted inappropriately. I don’t know why, I have my suspicions, but I won’t say them publicly because I have no proof. We were constantly hearing that they would sell him to every club except Barça. Then they dropped the pretense and said it openly and acknowledged that we had called them.

“That is now in the past and we are very happy with the squad we have and the coach is very happy with the extraordinary work of Deco.”

A Blessing in Disguise for Barcelona

Raphinha is flying this season. | Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Striker was a priority area for Barcelona heading into the summer, with Robert Lewandowski leaving for the Chicago Fire and versatile backup Ferran Torres angling for a move away before joining Paris Saint-Germain. The focus had been on Alvarez long before the transfer window even opened.

Had Alvarez been granted his dream move to Barcelona, he would likely have been a success, albeit an incredibly expensive one. He’s a talented forward who knows how to score goals in Spain’s top flight.

With Atlético playing hardball, Barcelona had to get creative. Gabriel Jesus was recruited from Arsenal as affordable squad depth, but the real decision came with Raphinha beginning the campaign as the starting striker.

What initially seemed to be an effective stop-gap quickly exploded into the long-term solution. Barcelona’s attack has been the best on the planet this season and Raphinha, with 14 goals and three assists in eight games, has been right at the heart of that.

Would Alvarez have put up such numbers? It is impossible to know. Thankfully for Barcelona, they do not have to worry about hypotheticals because they have a striker making such a sensational impact.

Raphinha’s shift to striker has not only brought goal after goal, but it has also eased a selection headache facing manager Hansi Flick.

Lamine Yamal starts on the right wing, but who else makes up Barcelona’s front line behind the striker? Anthony Gordon was signed for big money on the left wing, where Raphinha spent most of his time last season. The Brazilian could have moved into attacking midfield, but Fermín López and Dani Olmo are already battling for minutes there. Flick seemed doomed to disappoint somebody, and there was reason to believe Raphinha would be the unhappy party.

Just a few weeks later, however, and Raphinha is on top of the world.

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