Atlético shut out Laporta over Julián Álvarez as journalist alleges Barcelona blackmail

Atlético de Madrid have no intention of taking calls from Barcelona president Joan Laporta regarding striker Julián Álvarez, according to sports journalist Roberto Gómez, who went further on La Tribu by accusing the Catalan club of conducting what he described as a blackmail operation against Los Colchoneros.

Gómez was unequivocal: Barcelona not only lack the financial firepower to meet Atlético’s demands but have also forfeited their right to be considered a credible negotiating partner. Atlético had already set their asking price at €150 million in cash, with no player exchanges or deferred payments accepted — a condition that left Barcelona with almost no room to manoeuvre on purely economic grounds.

The journalist’s most pointed allegation was that Barcelona had six separate opportunities during the year to raise the subject of Álvarez directly with Atlético, and chose not to on every occasion. Instead, Gómez claimed, the club went behind Atlético’s back and opened channels with the player’s representatives. “Barcelona have had six chances this year to talk about Julián Álvarez and the subject never came up,” he said. “And then they went around the back, negotiating with agents, pseudo-agents of the player, and with an attitude of outright blackmail towards Atlético de Madrid that is unacceptable.”

The distinction Gómez draws is an important one. Atlético not answering Laporta’s calls is not a formal rejection of a specific transfer proposal — it is a statement that the club does not regard Laporta as a legitimate interlocutor in this process, at least for now. That framing matters because it leaves the door theoretically open under different circumstances, while making clear that no conversation is imminent.

The breakdown in trust has already escalated beyond the transfer market. Atlético have filed a formal complaint with FIFA over Barcelona’s conduct in the affair, raising the institutional stakes considerably. Any resumption of talks would first require that regulatory dispute to be resolved or at least de-escalated — a significant hurdle before a single euro is discussed.

Strategically, Atlético’s silence serves a clear purpose. By refusing direct communication rather than issuing a public statement, the club consolidates its position without exposing itself to the distortions that tend to accompany high-profile transfer sagas. Gómez noted that Atlético can simply point Barcelona to Álvarez’s €500 million release clause — a figure that requires no negotiation whatsoever, only acknowledgement.