Barcelona president Joan Laporta has on Wednesday provided a fresh insight into the club’s ongoing pursuit of Atlético Madrid star Julián Alvarez.
This comes amid the assurance that the Argentine is eager to take his talents to Catalunya’s capital this summer.
Frontman Alvarez has of course been hotly tipped to link up with Barcelona for several months now. After Robert Lewandowski was allowed to depart the Camp Nou as a free agent, the former Manchester City man was quickly identified as the ideal replacement.
Alvarez recently dropped something of a bomb on his current employers at the Metropolitano, in publicly announcing his intention to move on with a view to next season. The understanding is that this came as part of a direct push to join Atléti’s La Liga rivals.
And as alluded to above, on Wednesday, Joan Laporta has moved to do his part, too.
Speaking during an appearance in front of the media in Barcelona, as cited by Fabrizio Romano, the Blaugrana’s president explained:
“I have spoken with Atlético: we sent an offer and we know that Julián has wanted to come to Barça for a long time, since he was at Man City.
“We made this offer for Julián with all respect to Atlético. I spoke to both Cerezo and Miguel Angel Gil. The offer was sent and Atlético told me they had no plan to sell Álvarez because they had no alternative as a striker. I told them that, if they have alternatives, the bid is firm.
“We will keep this offer firm for as long as we consider. But it will not be at the expense of what Atlético de Madrid can tell us on this issue. They know what our will is, if they want to do it, we will be delighted.”
Conor Laird – GSFN
