Atletico accuse Barcelona of 'smear campaign' over Alvarez deal

Atletico Madrid insist Julian Alvarez is not for sale and value him as high as £130m; the club have posted images on their X of Barcelona stars Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Raphinha in Atletico shirts; the posts also included joke derisory bids for each player

>Atletico Madrid have accused Barcelona of running a "smear campaign" and "fake news" over their attempts to sign Julian Alvarez.

>Barcelona completed the £69m signing of Antony Gordon on Friday and have been linked with a big-money move for Argentine striker Alvarez.

>Atletico insist the 26-year-old is not for sale and value him as high as £130m.

>The club responded to social media posts about an imminent Barcelona bid for Alvarez by mocking up parody posts of Barcelona stars Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Raphinha in Atletico shirts.

>The posts also included joke bids for each player, including the offer of Bad Bunny concert tickets, an annual subscription and bag of sunflower seeds for Yamal.

>HERE WE GO! Hemos enviado un fax al @FCBarcelona_es con nuestra oferta de traspaso: 4 entradas para el concierto de Bad Bunny de mañana, una suscripción anual al ABC y una bolsa de pipas. Esperamos ansiosos la respuesta para preparar el ‘announce’. pic.twitter.com/e0J7mPljHa

>Alongside a picture of former Leeds winger Raphinha in their shirt, Atletico included the caption: "Don't believe everything you see, especially if it's related to Barca."

>HERE WE GO! Para esta segunda oferta hemos tenido un problema, se nos han terminado las entradas para el concierto de mañana, así que mejoramos la propuesta anterior con 6 para el del domingo. pic.twitter.com/YlAMkP26XG

>"Finally, we want to take this opportunity to categorically deny that we have made an offer to the sporting director of FC Barcelona to join our scouting team in the Brazilian market," another post said, in reference to Barcelona's sporting director Deco.

>"No, Atlético de Madrid would never do something like that. However, in recent months, we've been suffering a smear campaign against one of our players.

>HERE WE GO! Y para completar el 3x1 nos hemos venido arriba y vamos a tirar la casita por la ventana: el jugador llega cedido por una temporada y a cambio nosotros cedemos a Tom Ford y Smith sin opción de compra. Oferta irrechazable. pic.twitter.com/ChQivcgYFd

>"Leaked information with ulterior motives, 'fake news,' constant disrespect, the culé (Barcelona) version of the propaganda machine inventing little stories, calls before direct matchups."

>Barcelona declined to comment when approached by Sky Sports News. The Spanish FA has also been approached for comment.

>Alvarez has scored 20 goals in all competitions in 49 games this season.

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