Why Barcelona Are Fighting ‘Laughable’ Julian Alvarez Fine
Barcelona are reportedly refusing to pay a pitifully modest €602 ($670) fine for making an allegedly illegal transfer approach for Atlético Madrid striker Julián Alvarez as a matter of “principle.”
Alvarez found himself at the center of this summer’s most tumultuous transfer saga. Reports of Barcelona opening talks to sign Alvarez as early as May were publicly condemned by Atlético, whose official social media accounts retaliated with hoax posts about bids for Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Raphinha.
There was an oddly cordial and quickly forgotten bid from Real Madrid before Alvarez went public with his “dream” to leave the Spanish capital during the World Cup. Barcelona president Joan Laporta confirmed that an offer had been lodged while accusing his rivals of being “inflexible.”
This stubborn resolve would hold throughout the summer. Alvarez remains an Atlético Madrid player but the saga with Barcelona is still ongoing.
Why Barcelona Have Been Fined for Julian Alvarez Approach
Barcelona have been accused—and found guilty—of approaching Alvarez without informing his current employers of their intentions, as per the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF).
This “failure to comply with orders, instructions, agreements, or regulatory obligations” carries a maximum fine of €602, which has been sent the club’s way.
“I don’t see the logic behind this,” Laporta scoffed when news of the complaint first surfaced. “All of Atlético’s representatives are very experienced, and I don’t know what their strategy is. They have our offer. If they want to accept, we’d be delighted.
“Atlético is being completely inflexible, and I hope they’ll change their minds and accept. If they don’t, they should say so, and we’ll see. But taking it to UEFA, FIFA ... I don’t know what the point is. Maybe there are people looking to stir things up. it doesn’t make sense.”
Can Barcelona Win Their Appeal?
Barcelona would have no difficulty paying the fine. The club bragged about record revenues of €1.06 billion ($1.18 billion) this year. At that rate, it would take just 18 seconds to pay a fine which has been categorized by those inside the club as “laughable,” according to MARCA.
The same report states that the club have rejected the fine on “moral and conceptual grounds” and are confident in their appeal as they maintain that their “conduct was appropriate.” Atlético were supposedly “explicitly informed of [Barcelona’s] interest in the forward.”
Barça would have made their case when Atlético first launched their complaint and there is no suggestion that new evidence is about to come forward. RFEF clearly deemed the club’s indiscretion to be “minor” considering that only a fine was handed out; the governing body could also have suspended the club from playing or forced a closure of the stadium. Yet, whether they will completely remove any punishment entirely is another matter.
What Now for Julian Alvarez?
Alvarez has already tried to turn over a new leaf. The beleaguered forward was a shadow of his former self at the start of the season, visibly wilting under the weight of boos from a home crowd unimpressed by his very public desire to leave.
Bolstered by the constant backing of his manager Diego Simeone, Alvarez has belatedly rediscovered some of his old form. After scoring his second goal of the week on Saturday against Deportivo A Coruña, the Argentina international apologized for his comments for the first time.
This U-turn came shortly after a change in representation from Alvarez, who has now signed up with Pablo Barquero. While Atlético fans could take this as a positive sign, it’s not gone unnoticed that one of the few other clients on Barquero’s roster is a certain Rodri, who made the move to Barcelona just last summer.
