A perfunctory act, it appears to have been nothing more than a half-hearted completion of a pre-election gimmick
Real Madrid have attempted to sign Julian Alvarez by submitting a €150m bid for the Argentina forward, but the offer has been rebuffed by Atletico Madrid.
Madrid announced on Tuesday that they had formally approached Atletico for Alvarez, only for the proposal to be rejected. The 26-year-old is under contract until 2030 and Atletico suggested that any discussion would have to take account of the player’s release clause.
In a statement, Madrid said Atletico “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.”
However, Atletico responded later in the day on social media saying they were neither thankful for Madrid’s approach nor considering offers for Alvarez. The club’s statement accused their neighbours of confusing politeness with gratitude and reiterated that Alvarez was not for sale.
Alvarez has become highly rated in Spain since joining Atletico from Manchester City in 2024. He scored 20 goals in 49 appearances last season, including 10 in the Champions League, and has registered 49 goals in 106 matches since arriving in Madrid.
The striker has also been linked with Barcelona. Barcelona have explored a move but Atletico resisted interest and publicly criticised what they described as attempts to destabilise the player through repeated transfer speculation.
Why are Real Madrid trying to sign Alvarez?
Real Madrid made an attempt to sign Julian Alvarez but after Atletico Madrid rejected their €150m offer it does not seem like they will be making any more bids.
If the offer had been accepted by Atletico, it would have represented by far the largest transfer fee in Madrid’s history, more than the €115m they paid for Eden Hazard in 2019. But sources from Atletico have said they did not expect that the bid was serious and those familiar with Madrid’s thinking have said they will not be making any more offers.
This one they did make followed a campaign promise from Florentino Perez, who said before his re-election as president that Madrid would make a record-breaking offer for a leading player. It was assumed that Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise would be the target, but it was apparently Alvarez.
It is not very clear why Madrid would try to pay such a huge sum in the first place to sign Alvarez. They already possess a strong attacking group in Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Endrick, who went out on loan to Lyon in January and is expected to return to the club for next season. If Madrid have a weakness, it is on the right side, where they lack a convincing right winger, but Alvarez would not solve that problem.
Reliable transfer news coming out of the club is that they are seeking reinforcements at full-back, centre-back and in midfield, where there are obvious gaps. If they were to sign an elite attacker, it would most likely be a right winger.
It appears that the bid was simply put in to fulfil Perez’s election promise to bid €150m for a player, without any real intent of making a signing.
