Barcelona Interim President: Atletico Madrid's Mocking Post is Unworthy

JAKARTA - Barcelona's interim president, Rafa Yuste, criticized Atletico Madrid for a social media post mocking the LaLiga champions for their interest in Julian Alvarez.

After intense speculation about Barcelona's attempts to sign Alvarez, Atletico Madrid responded with a series of extraordinary publications on X and Instagram last week.

In addition to posting three sarcastic offers for Barcelona stars, Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and Raphinha, Atletico Madrid criticized the Catalan club for planned leaks, fake news, and constant discomfort.

"I think those uploads are very inappropriate. We just need to focus on ourselves. Education is the most important and we have to set an example, from the president to the last board member," said Yuste, who will be replaced by the president-elect Joan Laporta on July 1, 2026.

After bringing in Anthony Gordon for a transfer fee of 70 million euros last week, ESPN reported that Barcelona had turned their attention to Alvarez to replace departing striker Robert Lewandowski.

Various reports then said that Barcelona had made an offer of around 100 million euros for Alvarez, which then triggered uploads from Atletico Madrid.

Yuste said that Los Rojiblancos' response to the Blaugrana's interest would not change the way the club acts in the summer transfer market even though he did not want to comment directly on the developments related to the recruitment of Alvarez - who is currently preparing for the 2026 World Cup with Argentina.

"At Barcelona, we have a very clear way of acting. This will not change our approach to sports issues at all."

"(Sports Director) Deco has a very clear plan and the plan will not change," Yuste said.