Joan Laporta shares update on the current situation of Barcelona target Julian Alvarez | OneFootball

FC Barcelona seem determined to strengthen the squad ahead of the upcoming season. As the club looks to provide Hansi Flick with all the assets that he could need for the upcoming campaign, certain operations are going much smoother than others.

For instance, the arrival of Karim Adeyemi as the club’s next summer signing has already been confirmed by Joan Laporta and Anthony Gordon has also been officially announced. However, there is another ongoing operation that the club still has not been able to complete.

The operation in question is the one involving Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez, who remains determined to leave his current club and Barça remains dedicated to signing him. However, little progress has been made in recent days it seems, but an update has now been provided by Joan Laporta.

As quoted by Mundo Deportivo, the Barcelona president was first asked what he thought of the sensational goal that Alvarez recently scored against Switzerland in Argentina’s 3-1 quarterfinal victory amd also if Barça would be signing him this summer:

“A truly amazing goal…. We’ll see.”

Fortunately, he was able to provide further clarity over the ongoing situation and made it clear that Barça’s current offer does have an expiration date:

“Regarding Julián, we’re not going to dance to anyone else’s tune—we’ll set the tempo ourselves. We’ve submitted an offer, but it’s not open-ended. At the appropriate time, we’ll decide how long that offer remains on the table.”

As for why Barcelona seems determined to sign the player, Laporta made it clear that he thinks the player is outstanding and that both Deco’s department and Hansi Flick seem to be fond of the 26-year-old forward as well:

“The offer was made because both our sporting department and our coach want the player. I believe he’s an outstanding footballer. We’ve made a very significant offer, but it won’t remain valid indefinitely.”

Furthermore, he also revealed that he spoke directly to Atletico Madrid CEO Miguel Angel Gil to clarify certain matters as well while also confirming that the Catalan club does not intend to apply unnecessary pressure:

“I spoke with Miguel Angel Gil. As always, we had a very open and constructive conversation, and I believe we have an excellent relationship with Atlético. There was some initial misunderstanding regarding the offer we submitted, which I clarified. Since then, we haven’t applied any further pressure. I simply told him that our offer would remain valid until they found an alternative. That’s where things stand, and there hasn’t been any further progress so far.”

As for the valuation of the offer itself, that is where Laporta drew the line and decided not to reveal any more information:

“I’m not going to say anything more about the matter because I’ve already said everything I needed to say.”

Still, Laporta ended up giving quite a comprehensive account of where things stand right now and it clarifies a lot of confusion and misunderstandings. As for whether or not Barcelona will eventually end up signing Alvarez this summer, only time will tell what the future holds in store.