Roberto Gomez Criticizes Barcelona's Alvarez Pursuit
Spanish pundit Roberto Gomez has launched a blistering attack on Barcelona over their pursuit of Julian Alvarez and used the moment to criticise Real Madrid for allowing Rodri to slip away to their greatest rivals.
Speaking on La Tribu on Radio Marca, Gomez admitted he had been struck by Rodri’s official unveiling as a Barcelona player. The midfielder, fresh from a World Cup win with Spain, revealed during his presentation that Real Madrid had previously held talks with him before he chose the Catalan giants.
For Gomez, that revelation underlined a major error at the Bernabeu.
“I believe Real Madrid made a grave mistake in letting Rodri leave, because he would have given the midfield a major boost,” he said, making no attempt to soften the blow for the European champions.
The praise for Rodri was emphatic. Gomez called him “a world champion, a wonderful player, indeed the best,” adding that his quality had always been recognised and that he wished him “every success in his new phase” at Barcelona.
Fury over Barcelona’s Alvarez approach
The tone changed sharply when the conversation moved to Julian Alvarez and Barcelona’s attempts to prise the Argentine forward away in negotiations involving Atletico Madrid.
Gomez insisted Alvarez had every right to decide his own future, but he reserved his harshest words for the way Barcelona allegedly conducted themselves during the talks.
According to Gomez, the Catalan club tried to work around Atletico Madrid rather than with them. He accused Barcelona of having “manoeuvred behind Atletico’s back, and in a very despicable manner,” calling such behaviour “unacceptable in football.”
He did not stop there. The journalist directly branded Barcelona’s conduct as “arrogant”, “conceited” and “condescending”, turning what began as transfer analysis into a full-scale indictment of the club’s negotiating style.
Florentino Perez singled out for praise
While Barcelona absorbed the criticism, Real Madrid did not escape unscathed over the Rodri saga. Yet one figure emerged with credit in Gomez’s eyes: Florentino Perez.
“The only person who acted properly in all of this is Florentino Perez,” Gomez said.
By his account, the Real Madrid president first spoke directly with Alvarez and then followed the correct protocol by contacting Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo, a sequence Gomez held up as the standard for how elite clubs should behave in high-stakes negotiations.
In a transfer market increasingly driven by power plays and back-channel talks, Gomez has drawn his battle lines clearly: Barcelona accused of crossing them, Real Madrid guilty of a costly sporting error, and Florentino Perez, in his view, the only man to have kept his footing.
