Laporta confirms Barca's Alvarez offer
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed the club has made an official bid to sign Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez, saying: "We know he wants to come."
Alvarez recently declared his intention to leave Atleti, saying he wanted to "fulfil his dream" amid reported interest from the Blaugrana.
Atleti had already knocked back a €150m offer from cross-city rival Real Madrid for Alvarez's services last month, telling Los Blancos they would not sell him for anything less than his €500m release clause.
Atleti chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin has already confirmed he has complained to FIFA over Barca and Madrid's pursuit of Alvarez, but Laporta is still confident a deal could come to fruition.
"We understand that he's not selling because he doesn't have alternatives. When they have alternatives, if they want to, and this offer is still valid, we're interested in making the transfer," Laporta said.
"Now I see that there have been a series of actions. I don't see the logic behind this. All of Atletico's representatives are very experienced, and I don't know what their strategy is."
Laporta confirmed, for the first time, that the Blaugrana have proposed terms to Atleti, but he also noted that their offer would not remain open for the entire transfer window.
"They have our offer; if they want to accept, we'd be delighted," Laporta said. "Barca can handle any operation, but only with sporting and economic logic.
"We'll dictate the market. I've spoken with Atletico and made it clear what we want. [Sporting director] Deco made an offer.
"We know the player wants to come to Barca and has for a long time.
"We made this proposal with all due respect to their club. They told me they weren't planning to sell because we didn't have any alternatives [as a striker].
"We'll maintain this offer for as long as we deem necessary. We won't be at their mercy. If they want to make the move, we'd be delighted. The offer isn't open-ended."
