Dugarry tells Alvarez to stay quiet amid Atletico-Barcelona standoff

Christophe Dugarry has launched a fierce attack on Atletico de Madrid forward Julian Alvarez, describing the Argentina international and his representatives as “idiots” over his reported push to leave the Spanish club for Barcelona this summer.

Alvarez is understood to want a move away from Atletico and made his desire to depart public while representing Argentina at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The striker is reportedly determined to secure a transfer to Barcelona.

Atletico, however, remain committed to keeping Alvarez and are refusing to let him leave for the Catalan club. The situation between the two clubs remains unresolved.

Dugarry, the former France international who also played for Milan and Barcelona, criticised Alvarez’s approach during an appearance on RMC.

“The player and his representatives are idiots. How can he announce, ‘I want to leave the club’? Is he stupid or what?” said Dugarry.

His comments were reported by the English newspaper Metro.

Dugarry argued that Alvarez should have handled the situation more carefully and avoided making a public declaration about his future.

“It is not better to leave in this way. Be quiet, be humble and speak intelligently. Didn’t you see what happened with Griezmann? Don’t you know your management? Don’t you know your supporters?” he added.

The former striker was referring to Antoine Griezmann, although no further details were given about the incident involving the France forward.

Dugarry said players who want to leave should ultimately be allowed to do so, but stressed that the process should be based on mutual respect rather than public confrontation.

“You have to allow a player who wants to leave to leave. After that, it creates more problems than anything else. I also think there should be mutual respect between both sides,” he said.

He added that Alvarez’s conduct could make it more difficult for the player and Barcelona to reach an agreement with Atletico.

“The first thing to do when you want to try to reach an agreement is not to spit on your supporters and your club,” said Dugarry.

He concluded with another warning to the Argentine forward.

“With this approach, you are completely wrong and you will receive a deterrent punishment,” he said.

Alvarez’s future therefore remains uncertain, with the player keen to join Barcelona and Atletico continuing to resist his departure. The dispute has left the next step dependent on negotiations between the forward, his representatives and the Madrid club.

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