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Atl\u00e9tico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has delivered a bizarre and blunt response when asked about star striker Julian Alvarez potentially moving to La Liga rivals Barcelona this summer.<\/p>\n
Shutting down the transfer rumours ahead of a massive clash between the two clubs, the executive insisted the Argentine remains firmly under contract at the Metropolitano.<\/p>\n
As reported by Marca<\/i>, Cerezo made it clear that Atletico have no intention of letting Alvarez leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before a lunch with Barcelona executives, reporters pressed him on the forward moving to the Catalan capital. Cerezo responded to the rumors with a bizarre analogy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He asked: “Can you guarantee that you are not going to die between now and the end of the year? If a player has a contract with a team and he has many years of contract left with that team, then you tell me what can happen. I’ll tell you in three words… Julian has a contract.”<\/p>\n
It is easy to see why Barcelona have made the 26-year-old a top summer target. The forward has been sensational this season, racking up 17 goals and nine assists across 44 appearances in all competitions, playing a total of 3,106 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His impact since leaving Manchester City has been immense, boasting an impressive overall tally of 46 goals and 17 assists in 101 matches for Atletico.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Furthermore, prising him away will prove incredibly difficult, as his current deal expires on June 30, 2030, ensuring the Rojiblancos hold all the cards in any potential negotiations.<\/p>\n
Recent reports indicate that Barcelona have identified Alvarez as their primary target to bolster their attacking line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the club face significant financial hurdles in acquiring the striker. While they are desperate to secure a marquee signing, meeting the valuation set by Atletico will be exceptionally complicated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speculation suggests an initial approach for a loan deal including a fee would be instantly rejected, with a permanent transfer demanding a massive fee of at least \u20ac175m, though some reports say Atletico would hold out for closer to \u20ac200m.<\/p>\n
Away from the transfer market, the immediate focus for Atletico are their crucial Champions League quarterfinal against Barcelona.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The stakes are incredibly high for the Rojiblancos as they prepare for the first leg on Wednesday. The squad will be desperate for revenge after suffering a painful 2-1 defeat to the Catalan giants in La Liga at the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That home loss was a significant blow, making this European tie a fateful encounter for their season. Despite the recent setback and the noise surrounding Alvarez, Cerezo maintained his optimism, hoping his side can secure a vital away result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Atl\u00e9tico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has delivered a bizarre and blunt response when asked about star striker Julian Alvarez potentially moving to La Liga rivals Barcelona this summer. Shutting down the transfer rumours ahead of a massive clash between the two clubs, the executive insisted the Argentine remains firmly under contract […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}