Barcelona president Joan Laporta has taken aim at Atletico Madrid and the way the club behaved during the summer transfer window.
The Catalans wanted to sign Julian Alvarez from Atletico but saw the Madrid side hit out on social media at Barca and then refuse to sanction a move to the Camp Nou.
Atletico were reportedly willing to sell Alvarez to Arsenal, but the Argentina star made it clear he only wanted Barca.
Here’s what Laporta has had to say about the saga.
“They acted offended; they had no way
to justify their attitude. We did what’s usually done: there was club-to-club communication, and then I spoke personally with Gil Marín. He told me he wasn’t coming because they had no alternative,” he said.
“Then they reacted inappropriately. I don’t know why, I can imagine, but I have no proof. We were hearing that they would sell him to every club except Barça. Then they dropped the pretense and said it openly.
“That is now in the past and we are very happy with the squad we have and the coach is very happy with the extraordinary work of Deco.”
Barcelona ended up switching Raphinha to a No. 9 role after missing out on Alvarez and have seen the Brazilian play a starring role for Hansi Flick’s side, scoring 11 times in all competitions already.
