Official: Real Madrid confirm Atletico Madrid has rejected €150 million bid for Barcelona target | OneFootball

In a rare sight in professional football, Real Madrid have confirmed that their bid worth €150 million for Julian Alvarez has been rejected by Atletico Madrid.

This is not as per rumours or speculations. The club itself have confirmed that they had tabled a bid to sign the Atletico Madrid forward.

It is a bizarre development given that the official club statements are usually carried out once a club have signed a player.

What Real Madrid said

Julian Alvarez bid rejected by Atletico Madrid. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

In the statement, Real Madrid have mentioned that after a meeting with the board of directors, the club had tabled a mega bid for Alvarez.

“Real Madrid CF announces that, following today’s Board of Directors meeting, it has made an offer of 150 million euros to Club Atlético de Madrid for the federative rights of the player Julián Álvarez,” the statement read.

But the offer was swiftly rejected by Atletico Madrid, which cited the player’s release clause.

“After studying and evaluating it, Atlético de Madrid has thanked the club for the offer, made within the framework of the good relations existing between both clubs, and has rejected it, referring to the player’s release clause,” the statement added.

Is there a deeper story?

Will Alvarez join Barcelona this summer? (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Atletico Madrid’s decision to reject Real Madrid is surprising given that most media reports have pointed to a figure of around €130 million being enough to sign Alvarez.

It is, therefore, likely that Atleti did not want to sell their star player to a direct rival like Real Madrid.

Perhaps the most likely scenario is that Alvarez himself did not want to join Real Madrid, as he has reportedly set his sights on a move to Barcelona.

The Catalans, for their part, are not in a position to make a huge offer for the Argentine international, so it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the talented attacker this summer.