Julian Alvarez transfer news: Atletico Madrid accuses Barcelona of spreading fake news and running smear campaigns

Atletico Madrid issued a statement on Friday criticizing its La Liga rivals Barcelona for spreading fake news about Julian Alvarez’s transfer.

According to media reports, the Catalan giants have made a €100 million bid for the Argentine striker. News reports also claimed that Alvarez wanted to leave Atletico.

Atletico’s response began with AI-generated posts on the social media platform Xwhere it announced transfer offers for Barca players Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Raphinha. The tweets were laced with mockery and stated that Atletico was offering concert tickets and OTT subscriptions as compensation.

Shortly after the tweets, Atletico said: «Atlético de Madrid would never do something like that. However, in recent months we have suffered a smear campaign against one of our players. Information leaked with ulterior motives, fake news, constant disrespect, the Culé version of the propaganda machine that makes up small stories, calls before direct matchups.»

Atletico also took a dig at Barcelona for taking unnecessary advantage of the competition in registering its players. «It would also not occur to us to have the vice president of referees on our payroll or to use political favors to register players. RESPECT and VALUES,» the club wrote.

Published on May 29, 2026