Atlético de Madrid rejected a Barça offer of about 100 million euros for Julián Álvarez, a move that has turned a long-running interest into a concrete transfer fight. Joan Laporta said on Wednesday that Barça had already spoken with Atlético representatives, but the answer was no.
The bid matters now because Barça believes it can still register Álvarez in LaLiga and says the registration problems that hurt it in recent seasons would not be repeated. Laporta said the club could face any operation with sporting and economic logic, and he insisted that the money freed by Lewandowski’s salary would be enough to register Gordon and still leave room, while the savings from Ansu, Christensen and other players who have not yet left could also help.
Álvarez has already made clear why the move appeals to him. After Argentina beat Austria at the Mundial, he said the best thing for all parties was a transfer and that he hoped they would let him fulfill his dream. That is the player at the center of the bid, and it is why Barça has kept pressing even after the first answer from Atlético.
What complicates the picture is that Barça’s confidence has not yet been matched by a deal. Laporta said Deco sent the offer, the club received the rejection, and the game is still open. He described it as a chess match and said Barça believes it now has the upper hand, but Atlético’s refusal showed how far apart the clubs remain on the price.
Barça’s next step is clear enough. It plans to wait until the Mundial ends before deciding whether to raise the offer or pull out and pursue another player. Yesterday, LaLiga returned to the 1:1 fair play rule, giving Barça more room to act, but not enough to erase the fact that Atlético has already said no to the first serious approach. That leaves Álvarez in the middle of a negotiation that is real, expensive and still unresolved.
