Meknes – Atletico Madrid have firmly ruled out selling Julian Alvarez to Barcelona, insisting there is a “0% chance” of a deal despite Barca president Joan Laporta publicly confirming his club’s continued interest in the striker.
Following weeks of transfer speculations, Alvarez sat out Wednesday’s training session after facing backlash from Atletico fans, who booed the 26-year-old during Sunday’s draw against Villarreal.
Although reports attributed Alvarez’s absence from training to illness, Atletico strongly criticized a new video featuring Joan Laporta, in which the Barcelona president confirmed their €100m bid remains valid.
“We are still very interested in Julián Álvarez. We hope that our offer will be accepted,” Laporta told Barcelona’s official media channels on Wednesday.
“It goes without saying that Barcelona absolutely respects Atlético and the club’s directorate, who we have known for many years and have a lot of appreciation for,” he added.
Atletico Madrid responded to Laporta’s public push, by issuing a fiery statement shutting down any possibility of a deal.
“This is not about money, it’s about dignity. The player is being victimised, but the only victim in the Julian case is us,” Atletico said.
“They have harmed us economically and socially. There is 0% chance of selling him to Barca,” they added.
This latest exchange follows weeks of tension between the two La Liga rivals, with the Alvarez situation increasingly playing out in public.
Starting as a substitute on Sunday, Alvarez faced immediate hostile pushback from fans who jeered his warm-up and booed heavily as he stepped onto the field in the 66th minute.
Alvarez then headed straight down the tunnel at the final whistle instead of joining his teammates in greeting the crowd. Diego Simeone later revealed it was a club-directed decision to protect the striker from further hostility.
With the transfer deadline approaching, the public war of words shows no sign of slowing down,keeping the Argentina international at the center of the window’s main talking point.