According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona has chosen to remain silent in the face of Gil Marin's strong statement, awaiting developments after the final this Sunday.
Early this morning local time in the United States, while the Barcelona delegation was in New York preparing to watch the Spain vs. Argentina final this Sunday, Atletico Madrid released a strong statement from club CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marin. He was responding to Barcelona president Juan Laporta's attempt to sign Atletico Madrid star Julian Álvarez.
Gil Marin stated first: "I only heard some comments from Barcelona president Laporta, saying that their offer is not valid indefinitely. Our response is that our response is indefinite; we do not want to sell him. We will not accept an offer of €100 million, nor will we accept an offer of €150 million or €200 million."
In the second part of the interview, Gil Marin used even stronger language towards Laporta. He said, "I know the environment of the other club well enough to know that they treat these things as part of their own act when facing the media and fans, so I don't feel offended."
Furthermore, Gil Marin explained that he had asked the Barcelona president to stop this practice, but judging from what happened afterward, he was unsuccessful. Gil Marin emphasized: "I have a good personal relationship with the Barcelona president, and I explicitly asked him to drop the matter and explained to him that Julian was not for sale. Nevertheless, they persisted in this position because it fueled the media and social games. They were perfectly aware that Julian Álvarez would not be playing for Barcelona next season. What is criticized is that they continued to maintain this stance in front of the fans, and worse, they did so in front of the player himself."
However, despite these attacks, Barcelona explained to Mundo Deportivo that they would not respond or engage in a war of words with Gil Marin. Barcelona's stance is to remain silent and await developments after the World Cup concludes this Sunday. At that time, Julian Álvarez will be with Argentina against Spain for the championship, and Spain's squad includes eight Barcelona players.
Julian Álvarez's agent, Fernando Hidalgo, has also been criticized by Gil Marin. Speaking about the Argentine striker's agent, Gil Marin said, "I think he's been given the wrong advice since the end of the season, but I believe Julian's performance and behavior will remain impeccable."
The Argentine striker's agent also declined to comment and chose to remain silent.
