Barcelona president Joan Laporta has publicly broken his silence on the club’s pursuit of Alvarez, confirming the Argentine forward is eager to seal a move to the Spotify Camp Nou. Laporta revealed that Barca have already launched an official club-to-club bid, while stressing that the Catalan giants will not be held to ransom by Atletico.
“Let me state upfront that we continue to have great respect for Atletico,” Laporta said. “The tweets were before Julian stated that he wants to play for a big team; he didn’t mention Barca. Some interpreted it as Barca, and others didn’t. We didn’t force this; it was the player himself. This player was on Barca’s radar before signing for City, and even before that. At that time, we couldn’t afford the transfer. We made an offer, club to club.
“Barca can handle any operation, but with sporting and economic logic. We’ll dictate the market. I’ve spoken with Atletico and made it clear what we want. Deco made an offer. We know the player wants to come to Barca and has for a long time. We made this proposal with all due respect to the Madrid club. They told me they weren’t planning to sell because we didn’t have any alternatives. We’ll maintain this offer for as long as we deem necessary. We won’t be at their mercy. If they want to make the move, we’d be delighted. The offer isn’t open-ended.”