Barcelona was not satisfied with the media noise around Julián Alvarez. They also wanted to hear the Metropolitano roar. They were ultimately expecting something similar to what happened last Sunday: the Argentine suffered the scorn of Atlético de Madrid fans. A loud booing that ended with the Madrid club hiding the forward after the draw against Villarreal. “It was decided that he would not approach the teammates to greet the people, to separate him so he would go to the locker rooms,” said Diego Pablo Simeone. The same problem all summer. The same solution. None.
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Last week, at Barcelona’s offices, they talked about making a definitive decision about Julián Alvarez on Monday. According to explanations, they wanted to see how the weekend evolved. They had two fronts, one at Martínez Valero; another at the Metropolitano. Barça smiled on both. At Atlético’s home, the crowd booed Julián and, against Elche, Hansi Flick showed the sports management that his premise was correct. At least, for now, it seems so. “If they don’t bring Julián, I’ll manage with what I have,” the German coach had assured throughout the summer.
Flick asked for Gordon and Adeyemi. Flick handed Raphinha the key to the locker room and the area. Awaiting the group’s vote, the German gave him the captain’s armband and also placed him as center forward. “We have enough capacity in the squad for anyone to play in any position,” highlighted the Brazilian. “It’s true that the team has many options and we have shown it. It’s something that doesn’t depend on us, they will do what’s best for the club,” Fermín emphasized. Both scored two goals and the fifth was by Adeyemi. Gordon, for his part, provided two assists.
In Barcelona’s squad, however, there are players who do not want to give up on Julián Alvarez. Messages still continue between the Argentine forward and some of the blaugranas. “What’s happening is a bummer,” explains one of Hansi Flick’s guys. The squad’s optimism, increasingly weakened, coincides with that of the Camp Nou offices. In the offices where the numbers are cooked, they assure that there is space within the salary cap for a forward. “We have space for a top player,” they boast. The same sources assured there was money to pay the transfer. The first offer of 100 million was rejected. The second, about 20 million more, was never confirmed by Atlético. Joan Laporta, however, endorsed it: “We have made a very important offer, if they are willing to accept it, fantastic, but it will not be unlimited in time. We have to make a decision. Whether we maintain the offer or not depends on how these last two weeks of July go,” the president said during the World Cup.
Barcelona’s deadlines were changeable. The first, before the World Cup. They extended it until the end of July and then until the start of preseason. The last expired this Monday. But some want to extend it until the end of the market.
The problem is that at the Ciudad Deportiva the hope of reaching a deal for Julián is in the ICU. “It’s practically impossible,” emphasize the Barcelona sports management. Barça is starting to rule out Julián in the same way they already know it’s impossible to tempt Lautaro Martínez. “We sounded out Inter and they don’t want to transfer him,” they explain. Without plan A (Julián) or plan B (Lautaro), the sports management is beginning to discard other alternatives. “There is no player on the market who improves what we have in the squad,” they insist. In short, they agree with Flick. Without Julián, there is no ideal forward to replace Lewandowski. And Atlético does not change its mind regarding its refusal to transfer him to Barça.
At the rojiblanco club, they assure that their intention was always to keep Julián Alvarez to the point of offering him a salary increase, ten million euros net per season, to match Oblak as the highest-paid player on the squad. Since this offer was rejected and in May the player maintained his intention to leave for Barcelona, the rojiblanco management set June 20 as the deadline to deposit 150 million euros into an account, of which no percentage should be used to pay commissions to agents, intermediaries, or family members. The reason for the June 20 date was because it was a World Cup year and the rojiblanco sports management needed money and time to plan the squad and find a replacement of Julián Alvarez’s level. Atlético never received an offer for that amount within the established deadline. According to the club, a later offer arrived from Barcelona for 100 million euros to be paid over six years. After Julián Alvarez expressed on June 26 in the mixed zone of the Dallas stadium that he had a “dream” and that “the best for all parties is a transfer,” the rojiblanco club assures that no further offers from Barcelona arrived.
The situation has become entrenched as expected, despite the club’s attempts to protect the player given his very likely continuity at Atlético. In the noble area of the Metropolitano, it is interpreted that Julián Alvarez’s agent used the salary improvement offer to negotiate with Barcelona for a higher one until he got it improved. According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Barça offered him 18 million euros net, but never reached the 150 million euros requested by Atlético. That figure is key because, according to the same sources, the unlocking for a possible sale of Julián Alvarez to Arsenal depends on the London club agreeing to pay him the amount agreed with Barcelona.
Meanwhile, at Atlético, Simeone, his teammates, and the club maintain the stance of helping Julián to redirect the situation once he has already endured the first big booing from the rojiblanco fans. The club, and Simeone admitted this in the press conference, says it told the player not to accompany the team to applaud the fans at the end of the match against Villarreal. Now Atlético has three consecutive away games in which Julián Alvarez, if the Arsenal route closes, will have the opportunity to score goals before returning to the Metropolitano.
