SouthernWorldwide.com – Atletico Madrid has issued a scathing social media response, sarcastically mocking their city rivals, Real Madrid, after the latter released an official statement regarding a substantial €150 million (£129m/$173m) bid for striker Julian Alvarez.
Real Madrid, in a highly unusual move, published a formal announcement detailing their transfer activities. The Santiago Bernabeu club confirmed that their significant €150 million proposal for Alvarez had been rejected by Atletico Madrid. The official statement from Real Madrid read: “Real Madrid C. F. announces that, following the meeting of the Board of Directors held today, it has made an offer of 150 million euros to Club Atlético de Madrid for the federative rights of the player Julian Álvarez.” Following this rebuttal, Real Madrid is now widely expected to be compelled to pay Alvarez’s exorbitant €500 million release clause to secure his transfer.
Atletico Madrid, taking to their official social media accounts, responded with a biting and sarcastic series of clarifications to Real Madrid’s extraordinary statement. The club unequivocally denied any negotiation or consideration of a transfer, while simultaneously ridiculing their bitter adversaries.
Their official statement began with a series of numbered points, sarcastically addressing Real Madrid’s announcement. The first point humorously claimed that a video featuring the Pope, released by Real Madrid, was cut off before he could declare himself an Atleti fan.
The second point addressed Real Madrid’s apparent interpretation of politeness as gratitude, stating clearly: “You may have confused politeness with gratitude, but just to be clear: we don’t thank you for anything.” This further emphasized Atletico’s dismissive stance.
The third clarification was a direct denial of any transfer talks: “We are neither considering nor evaluating any offer for Julián.” This firmly shut down any possibility of negotiations from Atletico’s side.
The social media barrage continued with another pointed jab. Atletico Madrid humorously stated: “How could we not get along, when you make us laugh even more than Barcelona?” This was a direct comparison, implying that Real Madrid’s actions were more amusing than even their traditional rivals, Barcelona.
Adding a final barb, Atletico Madrid appended a postscript: “P.S. Taking advantage of the good relationship with your new president, let’s see if you stop ‘stealing’ players from our Academy. Thanks a lot, Real Madrid!”. This alluded to historical disputes over youth academy players moving between the two clubs.
This public display by Atletico Madrid follows a similar incident several days prior. Barcelona had also submitted a €100 million (£86m/$115m) bid, which was met with public mockery from Atletico. At that time, Atletico released a series of mock-up images, jokingly offering match tickets, an annual subscription, and sunflower seeds in exchange for player Lamine Yamal, highlighting their consistent approach to publicly dismissing unwelcome transfer approaches.
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona now face a critical decision regarding their pursuit of Julian Alvarez. Given Atletico Madrid’s firm and aggressive defensive stance, acquiring the forward’s signature appears increasingly improbable. The two Spanish giants will likely need to reconsider their strategies, potentially exploring ways to negotiate a reduction in Alvarez’s substantial release clause if they are serious about forcing a late summer transfer deal.
