Barcelona have been handed a €602 fine by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) after the club made direct contact with Julián Álvarez without first informing Atletico Madrid of their interest.

The sanction follows a breach of transfer protocols, which require clubs to notify a player's current employer before approaching them. Barcelona failed to follow that procedure when pursuing Álvarez, who is under contract at Atletico Madrid.

Despite the rulebook infringement, the financial penalty is modest — €602 amounts to little more than a symbolic punishment for a club of Barcelona's scale. The fine is unlikely to have any material impact on the outcome of negotiations between the two clubs.