Gremio will not negotiate with Barcelona for Arthur
Gremio's president said the meeting between Barcelona and the playmaker was authorised
Romildo Bolzan will make Barcelona pay the 50m euros in his release clause if they want him
Barcelona's interest in Gremio forward Arthur has generated a train crash between the Catalan club and their Brazilian counterparts. The photograph of the player dressed in a Barcelona shirt this weekend caused a big fuss, but the meeting was authorised by the club.
Gremio's vice president threatened to denounce Barcelona to FIFA and hours later president Romildo Bolzan said that Barcelona must stump up top dollar to sign him.
Bolzan told RAC1: "Arthur has a contract with Gremio and a release clause of 50 million. If they pay that we can't do anything but there is no conversation or negotiations open."
The Brazilian club confiremd that they knew about Arthur's meeting with Robert Fernandez and Andre Cury. "They told us that Arthur was going to eat with some representatives from barcelona and we authorised the encounter because it was just to meet the family, nothing more." However he said: "Gremio are not comfortable with this situation."
On Robert, he said: "I don't know Robert Fernandez, I've never seen him. If he's come to Porto Alegre he's done it totally secretly, he's never spoken to us."
