Atletico Madrid launched a bizarre rant on social media regarding Julian Alvarez (Image: Getty Images)
Atletico Madrid have launched into an extraordinary social media outburst following suggestions that Barcelona are pursuing a move for Julian Alvarez. The striker has been the subject of intense speculation in recent months, with the Catalan club and Premier League champions Arsenal amongst those reportedly interested. Reports in Spain have even indicated that Barcelona have submitted an initial bid of around £87million.
However, amidst those claims, Atletico posted a series of peculiar messages on X (formerly Twitter). They started: “In a few minutes, we will publish a statement about a relevant matter that is generating numerous pieces of disinformation.”
Subsequently, alongside a digitally-altered image of Barcelona star Lamine Yamal wearing an Atletico Madrid shirt, they posted: “HERE WE GO! We have sent a fax to Barcelona with our transfer offer: four tickets for tomorrow’s Bad Bunny concert, an annual subscription to ABC, and a bag of sunflower seeds. We eagerly await the response to prepare the ‘announce’.”
The Spanish outfit then continued with a comparable post featuring Pedri, accompanied by the message: “HERE WE GO! For this second offer we’ve had a problem, we’ve run out of tickets for tomorrow’s concert, so we improve the previous proposal with six for the one on Sunday.”
The final message focused on Raphinha and stated: “HERE WE GO! And to complete the 3×1, we’ve gotten all carried away and we’re going to throw the little house out the window: the player arrives on loan for a season and in exchange we loan out Tom Ford and Smith with no option to buy. An offer impossible to refuse.”
Atletico Madrid added: “Finally, we want to take this opportunity to categorically deny that we have made an offer to the sporting director of FC Barcelona to join our scouting team in the Brazilian market.
“No, Atlético de Madrid would never do something like that. However, in recent months, we’ve been suffering a smear campaign against one of our players. Leaked information with ulterior motives, ‘fake news,’ constant disrespect, the […] version of the propaganda machine inventing little stories, calls before direct matchups…
Barcelona are thought to be chasing an £87m move for the striker (Image: Getty Images)
“But of course, it wouldn’t occur to us either to have the referees’ vice president on our payroll or to resort to political favors to register players. RESPECT and VALUES.”
Meanwhile, an earlier statement dismissed reports suggesting Alvarez could be nearing a switch to the Camp Nou as “just another lie.”
Atleti skipper Koke also shared his thoughts. Speaking to Marca, he said: “I’ve been in Menorca with my phone off, with my wife, after a very intense year with many matches and many stories, and I’ve disconnected from my phone.
“I don’t know about any meetings; the only thing I know is that Julian is an Atletico Madrid player, he has a contract until 2030 and a release clause of many millions. That’s all I can tell you.
“Julian, as I told you before, he’s an Atletico Madrid player. He’s a lad who’s giving his all; he’s been at the club for two years. Ever since he arrived, everyone’s been trying to sell him to Barcelona, and to the other side, and to the other side. And right now, he’s an Atletico player until he comes out and says otherwise.”