Transfer and business negotiations between clubs should be peaceful and respectful. There shouldn't be any room for backhanded displays. Yet, this has taken place in Spain between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for the transfer of striker, Julian Alvarez. It also involves Sergio Ramos' attempts to buy La Liga side, Sevilla.
Bad Bunny tickets, an ABC subscription and a bag of sunflower seeds. In exchange? How about Lamine Yamal.
Atletico Madrid aimed the mocking dig at La Liga rivals Barcelona over their "smear campaign" in pursuit of Julian Alvarez. This comes after reports emerged claiming that the Blaugrana had made an offer worth €100 million fixed fee to sign the Argentine striker from Atleti.
Later in a series of messages which became increasingly heated amid the transfer battle, Atletico accused Barcelona of using political favours to register players.
As reported on Thursday, Atletico are likely to turn down the €100m (£77.9m) Barca are expected to offer - and so the Madrid club's barrage of social media posts on Friday evening proved.
First, they laid out their proposal for 18-year-old Spain star Lamine Yamal.
"We have sent a fax to FC Barcelona with our transfer offer: 4 tickets for tomorrow's Bad Bunny concert, an annual subscription to ABC, and a bag of sunflower seeds. We eagerly await the response to prepare the 'announce'," they wrot.
More 'approaches' were made for other players too - all featuring AI-generated images of them in an Atleti shirt.
For Spain midfielder, Pedri, the concert offering was increased to six tickets for Sunday's gig at the club's Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium; before bidding "loan for a season and in exchange we loan out Tom Ford and Smith with no option to buy" for Brazil winger, Raphinha.
By 'Tom Ford and Smith', the club were referring to a gaffe made by Atleti president, Enrique Cerezo, earlier in the year when he named both as players for his side. "An offer impossible to refuse," they wrote.
The flurry of posts came in just over an hour and quickly went viral, going into more than 55 million X account feeds.
The popularity was undoubtedly driven by the surprise - it is highly unusual for a club to make such satirical comments about a rival on a public forum. Atleti finished their remarks with two further, more serious, points.
"Remember, it took us just five minutes to create this fake post. We live in an era where reality can be altered. Don't believe everything you see, especially if it's related to Barca."
In a further post, the club added: "In recent months, we've been suffering a smear campaign against one of our players. Leaked information with ulterior motives, 'fake news', constant disrespect, the culé version of the propaganda machine inventing little stories, calls before direct match-ups."
"But of course, it wouldn't occur to us either to have the referees' vice-president on our payroll or to resort to political favours to register players. RESPECT and VALUES."
That referred to alleged payments Barcelona made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee. That investigation is ongoing and Los Cules have denied any wrongdoing.
It's not the first time the two clubs have clashed over a player. In 2019, Barca were accused of disrespect by Atleti in their efforts to sign Antoine Griezmann.
The French forward did move to the Nou Camp but rejoined Diego Simeone's side - initially on loan - two years later. The 35-year-old is set to join Major League Soccer side, Orlando City, this summer.
Taking it a notch higher, Atletico Madrid now issued a statement on their official account on X, claiming that they had sent an offer to Barcelona, referencing journalist, Fabrizio Romano’s famous phrase "Here We Go" with an image of Lamine Yamal in their jersey.
The bizarre behaviour didn't stop there as they made another statement, this time with a picture of Pedri and the following ‘offer’:
"HERE WE GO! For this second offer we’ve had a problem, we’ve run out of tickets for tomorrow’s concert, so we improve the previous proposal with 6 for the one on Sunday."
Shortly after, a third post emerged, this time with the image of Raphinha and the following caption:
"HERE WE GO! And to complete the 3×1, we’ve gotten all carried away and we’re going to throw the little house out the window: the player arrives on loan for a season and in exchange we loan out Tom Ford and Smith with no option to buy. An offer impossible to refuse."
At the same time, they took to their official Instagram account to make another post, where they uploaded AI-generated images of Lamine, Pedri, and Raphinha in Atletico Madrid colours with the following caption:
"And remember, it took us just five minutes to create this fake post. We live in an era where reality can be altered. Don’t believe everything you see, especially if it’s related to Barça."
Not long after, Atletico Madrid made another post on ‘X’, this time trying to take a dig at Barcelona director Deco, saying:
"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."
It seems clear that things aren't well at Atletico Madrid as they seemingly did not expect Barcelona to go on the offensive in the pursuit of Alvarez.
Tensions seem to be running high at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, leading to this bizarre attempt at mockery.
The situation remains unresolved for now. While Alvarez is open to changing clubs and would prioritise a move to Barcelona; Atletico continue to maintain a firm stance: they will not facilitate his departure unless they receive an offer they consider impossible to refuse.
Meanwhile, Sergio Ramos’ dream of buying Sevilla appears to have collapsed after a dramatic offer cut angered shareholders. From a blockbuster deal to total uncertainty.
Sergio Ramos, one of Spain’s greatest football icons and a historic figure connected to Sevilla FC, has allegedly seen his attempt to purchase the club collapse after drastically changing the financial terms of his proposal.
For weeks, the operation seemed to be moving toward a historic conclusion. The initial proposal reportedly involved a package worth around $520 million, including share purchases, a capital increase and the assumption of part of the club’s debt.
During a key meeting held this week, Sergio Ramos’ group reportedly introduced a dramatically different financial plan. Sevilla’s valuation was allegedly cut nearly in half, dropping to approximately $250 million, while the ownership structure was reshaped entirely.
For several shareholders, the reaction was immediate: disbelief, frustration, and concern. According to reports from Spanish outlets, including El Desmarque, AS, and El País, some individuals involved in the discussions felt blindsided after months of negotiations.
The central problem reportedly was not only the reduced valuation but the structure of the revised proposal itself.
Based on the information available, the new plan relied heavily on a major capital increase that would give Ramos’ group dominant control of the club while significantly reducing the amount allocated to existing shareholders.
In simple terms, many owners allegedly felt that less money would be paid while greater institutional control would be handed over.
Some shareholders privately labeled the proposal "unacceptable," while others began questioning whether the financial strength promised at the beginning truly existed.
Sergio Ramos is not just another name connected to the club. A product of Sevilla’s academy before becoming a legend at Real Madrid, the defender appeared ready to reconnect with the club where everything began while stepping into a leadership role off the pitch.
The possibility of seeing Ramos guide Sevilla’s institutional rebuild generated excitement, curiosity and division among supporters.
According to the reports, Sevilla’s ownership group is already exploring other alternatives, while new investors have reportedly shown interest in entering negotiations. The club’s urgent financial needs make a solution necessary in the short term, particularly due to the importance of a capital increase.
With negotiations seemingly broken; Sevilla FC enters a defining moment.
The club urgently needs financial stability, institutional clarity and a clear roadmap to regain competitiveness after turbulent seasons. According to Spanish media reports, pressure is mounting to resolve the ownership situation quickly and avoid prolonging uncertainty.
These acts are disgusting, from my point of view. There's no need for it. It shows a high level of arrogance and disrespect. If I was on the receiving end of it, I would distance myself from the perpetrator/s. It shows me that they don't respect and/or don't take me seriously.