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New developments
Barcelona are set to make an improved financial offer to Atletico Madrid in the coming days to include Argentine striker Julian Alvarez, who is a top priority to bolster their attack following the departure of Poland’s Robert Lewandowski.
The Spanish newspaper “AS” reported that the management of the Catalan club is preparing a new offer, which is more attractive than the original offer, which did not exceed 100 million euros, in an attempt to force “Atletico” Madrid to sit down at the table of serious negotiations.
Despite Barcelona president Joan Laporta’s arrival in the American city of Dallas yesterday, Monday, to participate in the World Cup semi-final match between Spain and France, in which he stressed that “the presented offer is very big, but not infinite”, the reality shows that the Catalan administration is aware of the need to increase the value of the offer to complete the deal.
“I was very clear in my last conversation with Miguel Angel Gil Marin (Atletico Madrid president). At first there was some confusion about the offer we made and I explained it to him and we haven’t made any further progress since then.
Funny show
Barcelona’s initial offer of no more than €100 million sparked derision among Atletico Madrid fans on social media platforms, especially as the player’s release clause in his contract was €500 million and Real Madrid had publicly offered €150 million to sign him, an offer which Atlético initially rejected.
But the equation changed radically following Alvarez’s public statements during the World Cup, when he expressed his desire to leave, saying:
Flick refuses to wait
Germany coach Hans Flick insists on not waiting until the end of the summer transfer window to determine his final squad, as was the case in his first two seasons at the club, when he started the campaign with players who were not yet registered or made sudden departures at the last minute, as was the case with defender Inigo Martinez.
“It is clear that we will not back down from anyone. We will impose our style. This offer is not final and we will announce its validity later. We made this offer with the aim of signing a player liked by the coach and the sporting director.”
Date of final settlement
Barcelona officials confirm that the end of this July or the beginning of next August will be the deadline to know if the deal will be completed or if the sport’s management will have to look for other alternatives to compensate for Lewandowski’s departure.
The first step Barcelona need to take seems to be to significantly increase the value of the financial offer, in the hope that it will be enough to at least force Atlético Madrid to open the door to serious negotiations, especially after the player himself announced his desire to leave and wear the Blaugrana shirt.
