Joan Laporta is officially Barcelona president again and spoke about Julian Alvarez at an inauguration event on Wednesday.
Barcelona are keen to bring in Alvarez this summer but Atletico continue to insist they haven’t received an offer from the Catalans and that he’s not for sale.
Laporta insists that the two clubs have been talking and that Deco submitted a bid, believed to be for 100 million euros, for the Argentina international.
“We’ve spoken with Atlético de Madrid and Deco sent an offer. We know
the player has wanted to come since before playing for Manchester City,” he said.
“I spoke with Gil Marin, who told me that in principle they did not plan to sell. The offer is firm and we will maintain it. We will not be at the expense of what Atlético de Madrid says.
“We have a great relationship with Atleti. The offer will remain in force and could be made, but it is not unlimited in time. Atlético says that they do not sell because they had no alternative; now if they have an alternative, we will see.”
Marin also admitted previously that he’d spoken with Laporta about Alvarez but also accused the Barca chief of “disrespecting” his club and insisted the Catalans aren’t capable of carrying out such a big-money transfer.
