Real Madrid’s attempt to land Julian Alvarez has turned into one of the most talked-about stories in Spanish football, but not because of the size of the offer.
Instead, it is Atletico Madrid’s public response that has stolen the headlines.
Los Blancos officially revealed on Tuesday that they had submitted a €150 million proposal for the Argentine forward.
The announcement itself came as a surprise, with clubs rarely making such approaches public.
However, Real Madrid chose to confirm the offer through an official statement, bringing an already sensitive situation into the spotlight.
What followed was an extraordinary reaction from their city rivals, who wasted little time in dismissing the approach and publicly ridiculing Real Madrid on social media.
Atletico launch extraordinary response
The first response from Atlético Madrid was relatively light-hearted, with a series of smiling emojis aimed at Real Madrid’s announcement.
Comunicado oficial con nuestras aclaraciones sobre el comunicado oficial de nuestros vecinos @realmadrid:
1. Se os cortó el vídeo del Papa donde decía que también era del Atleti.
2. Habréis confundido la educación con agradecimiento, pero para que no haya dudas: no os agradecemos…
— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) June 9, 2026
But the club soon escalated matters with a strongly worded statement that left little room for interpretation.
In their message, Atletico sought to challenge several aspects of Real Madrid’s communication while making it clear that they had no intention of entertaining discussions over Álvarez.
“Official statement with our clarifications regarding our neighbours’ official statement.
“Real Madrid: 1. You cut the part of the Pope’s video where he said he was also an Atlético fan.
“2. You may have confused politeness with gratitude, but just so there’s no doubt: we don’t thank you for anything.
P.D. Aprovechando la buena relación con vuestro nuevo presidente, a ver si dejáis de 'robar' jugadores de nuestra Academia. ¡Muchas gracias, @realmadrid!
— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) June 9, 2026
“3. We haven’t considered or evaluated any offers for Julián.
“4. How could we not get along, when you make us laugh even more than Barcelona does?”
There is more
The exchange did not end there, as Atletico later published another message aimed directly at their long-time rivals, adding further fuel to the growing rivalry.
The Rojiblanco club wrote,
“P.S. Taking advantage of the good relationship with your new president, let’s see if you’ll stop ‘stealing’ players from our Academy. Thank you very much, Real Madrid!”
Regardless of whether Real Madrid genuinely expected Atletico to negotiate, the public nature of the exchange has everyone talking within the footballing circle.