Real Madrid had their €150 million (£130m) bid for the striker, Julián Álvarez, blocked by Atlético Madrid, their local rival team, Yankee Scores reports.
Earlier last week, Real president Florentino Pérez had announced that he would be making an offer of €150 million for a “galáctico” player, provided he was able to retain his position as president.
Comunicado Oficial.
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) June 9, 2026
This happened, and Pérez stuck to his word.
However, the bid was rejected by Atlético Madrid, where Julián Álvarez plays, owing to his €500 million release clause (£430m).
Real Madrid, in a statement, state: “Following the meeting of the board of directors held today, it has made an offer of 150 million euros to Club Atletico de Madrid for the federative rights of the player Julian Alvarez.
“After reviewing and evaluating the offer, Club Atletico de Madrid has expressed its gratitude for the proposal, made within the framework of the good relations between both clubs, and has rejected it, referring to the player’s release clause.”
Atletico echoed Real Madrid’s comment on X by tagging a series of laughing emojis.
In one of their other posts, external they stated: “You must have confused education with gratitude, but to leave no doubt: we don’t thank you for anything.
Official statement with our clarifications regarding the official statement from our neighbors @realmadriden:
1. Your video of the Pope got cut off before he said he was also an Atleti fan.
2. You may have confused politeness with gratitude, but just to be clear: we don’t thank…— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) June 9, 2026
“We neither study nor consider any offer for Julian. How could we not get along, when you make us laugh even more than Barcelona does.”
In a final post, Atletico responded: “P.S. Taking advantage of the good relationship with your new president, let’s see if you stop ‘stealing’ players from our Academy. Thanks a lot, @realmadrid!”
Alvarez, the Argentine who helped his country win the 2022 World Cup, was signed from Manchester City to La Liga team for a transfer fee of £81.5m in 2024.
