Lamine Yamal backed a move for Julián Álvarez on Tuesday, saying he would love Barcelona to sign the Atlético Madrid forward. The 18-year-old also said Barcelona would welcome him with open arms, putting a public face on a transfer issue that has already reached FIFA and the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
Yamal called Álvarez a great player and said, “If he comes, we’ll welcome him with open arms... If I were him, I’d do it,” before adding, “We’ll be waiting for him if he wants to come. [I say] go for it.” Those comments land in the middle of a dispute over a player who has publicly declared his wish to leave Atlético Madrid.
Marc Pubill and Barcelona
Marc Pubill sits in the same Barcelona conversation because the club’s transfer noise is now spilling across more than one name. But Álvarez is the bigger issue in the open, and Yamal’s comments make that clear: Barcelona want the idea alive, and the player inside the squad is now saying so out loud.
Álvarez joined Atlético Madrid from Manchester City in 2024 and still has another four years on his contract. Atlético point to the €500 million release clause and say they have no desire to sell him, which is why any move would have to clear a far higher barrier than a simple handshake between clubs.
FIFA and the Royal Spanish Football
COPE reported that Atlético lodged a formal complaint with FIFA and the Royal Spanish Football Federation over what they perceive to be improper conduct. That turns the story from loose transfer chatter into a rules issue, with the complaint itself now part of the pressure around the move.
The complication is that the saga also includes Real Madrid, which keeps the noise high and the path to a deal narrow. For Barcelona, the practical next step is not a public gesture but a legal and financial one: any serious push for Álvarez has to confront the release clause, Atlético’s refusal to sell, and the complaint now sitting with the game’s authorities.
