Miguel Ángel Gil Marín appeared after the Champions League draw in Monaco and said the following: “We are disgusted by falsehood, lack of ethics, transparency, and professionalism, and we can only insist that we will not negotiate with Barcelona under any circumstances.” In the mother of all tantrums, the white-and-red CEO lashed out at Barça with a tone bordering on rudeness, which is surprising given the facts.

Hansi Flick went on vacation describing the desire that would define the summer: to fill the place left by Robert Lewandowski, he wanted a new striker, with associative ability and who could score goals. The letter to the Three Wise Men was no secret, and the card of Julián Álvarez was everywhere. Even at the traditional Christmas dinner that Barça organizes every year with the press, the name of the Argentine forward had already been the main protagonist of the conversations before the toasts with president Joan Laporta. The highest manager found him expensive and, during the electoral campaign, said he wanted to extend the Pole's contract for one more season, an idea that Deco never valued. The priority was Julián. What we didn't expect was that Barça would start the League without having resolved the issue and having also parted ways with Ferran Torres.

Diego Pablo Simeone is a wily old fox. He knew that the mood of the Atlético de Madrid fans with Julián Álvarez, who has pushed hard to be transferred to Barça, was tense, and he saved him from the whistles in the mattress team's first league match at the Metropolitano. The Argentine forward was the only one of the World Cup finalists who was left out of the squad for the duel against Málaga, which was decided in the second half in favor of the locals (2-0). "He is not yet ready to continue taking care of the name he has," Cholo justified in the press conference prior to the match. In the one that followed, he ironically commented on some offensive chants heard at the stadium against Julián: "They are very respectful." Obviously, he didn't like them at all.

Just as a few months ago Barcelonism celebrated the start of summer without restrictions in the fair play financial, the club is reaching the end of the transfer window with a degree of nervousness because it has not yet been able to complete the squad. The technical secretariat, led by Deco, has done its homework with departures and has fulfilled the coach's wishes by strengthening the wings. But there is still one position to cover, and not just any position: that of the center forward, which must be reinforced no matter what. The departures of Lewandowski and Ferran Torres mean losing forty goals compared to last season, and the figure rises to 54 if Rashford, who will not renew his loan, is also included. On the other hand, the arrival of Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi only brings 27, half, considering that neither of them is a specialist in the position of new.

A decisive week begins for the composition of the Barça 2026/2027 squad. Many open folders on the desk of the Barcelona sporting director, Anderson Luis de Souza, Deco. Among all of them, two stand out in the form of arrivals, Rodri Hernández and Julián Álvarez. If the signing of the Madrid midfielder, made in a lightning move by Real Madrid, is awaiting an agreement with Manchester City, which understands the player's desire to leave, the operation to recruit the Atlético de Madrid forward is much greener (not to say almost impossible). Barça has already verbally agreed the terms of a five-season contract with Julián, but has repeatedly encountered the mattress club's refusal to sell him. "We will not accept 100, nor 150, nor 200 million for him," sentenced the club's CEO, Miguel Ángel Gil, a few weeks ago.

The name of Julán Álvarez is on everyone's lips, including the president of Barça, Joan Laporta, who spoke about him on the day he was sworn in again as the club's top official. In an impromptu press conference after the swearing-in ceremony, Laporta assured that the offer made by Barça about a month ago remains firm, but that "it is not unlimited in time".

Before renewing his contract with Barça until 2028, Hansi Flick made two things very clear. First, he demanded a paradigm shift in physical preparation, something that has been materialized with the departure of Julio Tous and two of his trusted professionals. And, secondly, he made it clear that to raise his team's performance in the Champions League, it was imperative to sign two forwards at their peak. "We need two," he stressed in a pool informal with journalists a few weeks ago. The coach expects that with the departure of veteran Robert Lewandowski, the attacking front needs to be reinforced with a top-level footballer, but he also observes an excessive dependence on Lamine Yamal, especially when essential players like Raphinha Dias are out for almost three months due to injury.

Despite Miguel Ángel Gil Marín breaking the silence to assure that Julián Álvarez is not for sale, the reality is that both the CEO of Atlético de Madrid and a good part of the employees in the offices of the mattress club are convinced that it is highly probable that the forward will leave the club this summer. Could he stay? Yes, if no agreement is finally reached with the interested clubs, but El Aranya wants to leave and Apollo, the investment fund that recently controls the entity, is already willing to do business with the Argentine footballer. The problem is the destination. Because Julián wants to play for Barça, a club he has dreamed of since he was little. However, the mattress executives do not want to strengthen a direct rival in the fight for the League, Cup, and Super Cup titles. They prefer PSG. Or Arsenal, which would be willing to make an exchange offering money and with the Swede Viktor Gyökeres as a bargaining chip. However it ends, everyone is clear that the saga will be long and will have plot twists.

Argentina has beaten Austria (2-0) and secured their ticket to the round of 16 of the World Cup. Leo Messi has surpassed Germany's Miroslav Klose and has become the all-time top scorer in World Cups with 18 goals. But all of this has been overshadowed by the strong statements made by Julián Álvarez in the mixed zone in Dallas. The Atlético de Madrid forward wants to change scenery after two seasons under Diego Pablo Simeone. Having turned 26 in January, he believes his career needs a new boost, with Barça as his favorite future option.

Neither Michael Olise, nor Vitinha, nor Harry Kane. The world-class star that its president, Florentino Pérez, announced a few days ago during his campaign on Iker Jiménez's program was Julián Álvarez. Or, at least, that's what can be understood from the statement Real Madrid issued on Tuesday evening. "Real Madrid announces that, after the board of directors meeting held this Tuesday, it has made an offer of 150 million euros to Atlético de Madrid for the federative rights of Julián Álvarez," the club stated at the beginning of the document, which concluded with another clear paragraph: "After studying and evaluating it, Atlético de Madrid has appreciated the offer, made within the framework of the good relations between the two clubs, and has rejected it, referring to the player's release clause".

Barça's financial fair play went up in smoke in 2020. With the pandemic and closed stadiums, revenues fell and the club was left with no capacity to pay player salaries. In 2021, with Joan Laporta in the box, the decision to tweak the numbers and load up to 555 million in losses onto the fiscal year that had started with Bartomeu as president, only aggravated the problem to the extreme. Five years later, and despite having activated levers, having fine-tuned the wage bill, and having closed low cost, the club is heading towards another summer with problems to face the transfer market normally.