'We made a fair offer!' - Barcelona director Deco hits back at Atletico Madrid over Julian Alvarez pursuit and denies tapping up claims

Barcelona identified Alvarez as their primary summer target to replace departing forwards Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres. The Catalan club tabled an offer worth around €100 million, structured across three seasons, but Atletico Madrid firmly refused to negotiate.

Tensions escalated when Alvarez publicly expressed his desire to leave during the World Cup. This prompted the Rojiblancos board to issue a scathing statement, unanimously blocking the transfer and accusing Barcelona of unethical conduct.

The capital club also reportedly filed complaints with the RFEF and FIFA over alleged tapping up, while accusing the La Liga champions of manipulating the media.

Speaking to RAC1, Deco defended Barcelona's approach and dismissed claims that they instructed the 26-year-old to force a move. "We have the information we have. We’ve done things properly," Deco explained. "We made an offer and received no reply. There’s been more talk about it in the press. We spoke to them respectfully. They told us from the outset that they didn’t want to sell him.

"I can’t say much more than what the reality is. We made a formal and fair offer... We made an offer to pay over three seasons. There are clubs that pay over five instalments."

The sporting director completely rejected Atletico's accusations of foul play behind the scenes. "Barca did not tell Julian to publicly express his desire to leave Atletico," he stated. "You can’t keep bringing up the same issue all the time. It’s much more a matter of social pressure than reality. There’s no more to it than that."

With Alvarez staying in Madrid, Barcelona were forced to pivot their transfer strategy. Deco noted that replacing a striker of Lewandowski's calibre was practically impossible, leading the club to explore alternative attacking profiles in the market.

"If Julian hadn’t joined us, we’d have had to look for a similar profile. That’s why we signed Gabriel [Jesus]," Deco confirmed. "With [Karim] Adeyemi, the opportunity came up earlier. As for [Roony] Bardghji, we were planning to loan him out."

After being completely omitted from Atletico's opening La Liga fixture amid the transfer saga, Alvarez has since been reintegrated into Diego Simeone's squad. He made his return as a second-half substitute during a 3-0 defeat to Athletic Club.

The Argentine forward then travelled with the squad for Atletico's Champions League league-phase opener against Liverpool. However, Simeone's side were ultimately handed a 2-1 defeat on Merseyside.