In a video officially released by Barcelona, club president Laporta discussed transfer negotiations for Julián Álvarez and what happened last Sunday in Elche.

Laporta's Full Statement:

First of all, I want to emphasize that we absolutely respect Atlético Madrid. We also have a deep personal friendship with their management, as we have known each other for many years.

I hope to explain the entire process. Barcelona sent an official offer from our club to Atlético Madrid. Later, I personally confirmed this offer in a private telephone conversation with Miguel Ángel Gil (Atlético Madrid's CEO).

At that time, he told me they had no intention to sell because they had no replacement for Julián Álvarez.

I responded to him: "Look, we are genuinely very interested in this player, and we fully respect your decision not to sell. But if you find a replacement during the summer transfer window, we remain interested in acquiring him."

After that, Deco and I discussed that since they weren't selling, we would shelve the matter for now, because in principle they had no replacement, so we couldn't sign him.

But what happened next? We learned that Atlético Madrid was in negotiations with other clubs about selling the player.

Upon learning this news, we felt our offer remained valid, because it's well known that this player is very keen to join Barcelona.

This situation created a lot of commotion, but it was in no way caused by Barcelona's actions. Rather, it stems from the fact that they previously told us they wouldn't sell, but now, at least according to the information we have, they appear to be trying to reach an agreement with other clubs.

So through trusted intermediaries, we contacted Enrique Cerezo (Atlético Madrid's president).

Enrique Cerezo later made several statements. To Enrique, whom I greatly respect, and with utmost deference, I want to say that Barcelona has always conducted itself very properly in this matter.

We treat Atlético Madrid the same way we treat other clubs. For example, when we previously dealt with Manchester City, we also asked other clubs if they were willing to sell certain players, and when they said they wouldn't sell, we dropped the matter.

But in this incident, the situation is different because we learned that Atlético Madrid intends to sell the player to other clubs.

For this reason, Barcelona will continue to monitor this process, and our offer will remain valid until the end of the transfer window, in case Atlético Madrid ultimately decides to sell the player.

We are genuinely very interested in this player and hope our offer will be accepted. We state this with absolute respect for Atlético Madrid. If they are willing to sell during this summer window, they should know we are ready to purchase this player at the price we previously offered.

Now, regarding Thursday evening's match against Athletic Bilbao at the stadium, there will be a ceremony to raise the Estelada.

As everyone knows, the Estelada symbolizes the worldview of many Barcelona fans and Catalans.

Spain is defined as a social and democratic constitutional state, and freedom of expression is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Spanish Constitution.

In this sense, displaying or demonstrating the Estelada is fully protected under freedom of expression.

The Estelada expresses the desire for freedom and the will to achieve freedom of many Barcelona fans and Catalans.

Therefore, I believe this should be respected because this will is part of freedom of expression. Moreover, it is a peaceful form of self-expression that does not generate violence or incite hatred.

In my opinion, the Estelada should be respected because it represents our desire for freedom. Like all other symbols expressing a particular worldview, they too should be respected if displayed peacefully, nonviolently, and without inciting hatred.

Barcelona strongly opposes and condemns the excessive violence by the National Police, who previously attacked a Barcelona member carrying the Estelada before the match against Elche.

In response, we have done the following: we fully supported and assisted this member, this young man and his family, to help them resolve any issues they faced in this incident.

Therefore, Barcelona demands and firmly believes that this excessive and violent act, committed by certain officers of the National Police, must be punished and sanctioned as it deserves, after facts are established—that is, after the video evidence is examined, which makes everything very clear.

Our goal is very clear: we hope and wish that through appropriate punishment of those responsible and the Estelada tribute ceremony to be held at Spotify Camp Nou this Thursday, this matter will be resolved once and for all, so that Barcelona fans and Catalans can freely display the Estelada without fear for their personal safety.

We also hope this will eliminate, once and for all, the demonization and stigmatization of the Catalan Estelada by national security and public order forces.

No, our Board of Directors—the committee I have the honor of leading—has decided that a ceremony honoring Barcelona's players who won the World Cup will not take place.

We had planned to hold an event in honor of Barcelona's World Cup-winning players, which was proposed to us by the Spanish Football Federation.

However, given that the current context, atmosphere, and timing are not appropriate, we decided not to proceed with the event. We informed the Spanish Football Federation of this decision, and they fully understand it.

The event will not take place because we believe football should play a unifying role, not be used to create opposition and conflict, which serves no one's interests at this time."

Переведено ИИ.

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