Barcelona's Striker Dilemma: Julián Álvarez and Internal Options
Barcelona have hit pause on their push for Julián Álvarez and are scrambling through a shrinking market for a No.9 as the transfer window ticks towards its close, sources have told ESPN.
The Argentine remains the name circled in red at the top of Barcelona’s list. That has not changed. Nor has the reality that Atlético Madrid simply will not budge. The Spanish champions saw an offer of around €100 million knocked back earlier in the summer, and Atlético have stayed firm, insisting the former Manchester City forward is not for sale — even after Álvarez told ESPN publicly that he wants to leave.
Barcelona had hoped those comments would crack Atlético’s stance. They haven’t. According to a source, the club now accept that, short of a “radical” late twist, Álvarez will not be walking into Montjuïc this month. A return to the deal in January has not been ruled out, but it has been parked for now.
Flick wants a No.9, the club isn’t united
Inside the club, the debate is clear. Hansi Flick wants a striker. A real one. The departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres have stripped him of his established No.9s, and the coach has been insistent that a replacement is needed before the window shuts.
Not everyone at Barcelona agrees.
Other influential figures believe the squad already holds enough attacking solutions if no centre-forward arrives. For them, the answer lies in flexibility rather than a blockbuster signing.
- Raphinha
- Karim Adeyemi
- Anthony Gordon
- Lamine Yamal
are all viewed as options to operate through the middle. None is a traditional penalty-box striker, but all bring pace, movement and the ability to attack space. Fermín López and Dani Olmo have also been used as false nines, offering Flick the possibility of a more fluid, interchangeable front line.
For now, the only natural striker to have worked with the first team in preseason is 18-year-old Egypt international Hamza Abdelkarim. Talented, yes. Ready to carry the No.9 burden at Barcelona, far less certain.
Targets fall away, prices soar
Barcelona’s search has already burned through several names.
Earlier in the summer, the club explored moves for João Pedro and Junior Kroupi. Those doors have closed. João Pedro has committed his future by signing a new contract with Chelsea, while Kroupi, now at Bournemouth, has been ruled out for up to four months with a foot injury.
As the window has dragged on, the profile of the targets has shifted upward and the numbers with them. Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez has been linked. So has Sporting CP’s Luis Suárez. Both are admired. Both are considered too expensive for Barcelona’s current financial reality.
One source says the club have followed Benjamin Sesko for years, rating his potential highly. At this point, though, signing the Manchester United attacker is viewed as impossible.
So the net has widened again.
Villarreal’s Ayoze Pérez has been discussed. More intriguingly, so has his teammate Georges Mikautadze. According to a source, Barcelona have been particularly impressed by Mikautadze’s data and his performances since arriving in Spain, and his name has moved into the conversation as a more realistic operation.
A race against time
The picture is messy, and the clock is loud.
Álvarez remains the dream, the long-term target Barcelona still see as the ideal heir to their No.9 role. But with Atlético unmoved and the market tightening, Flick and Deco are being pushed towards compromise: trust internal solutions, or gamble on a more affordable, less proven striker.
Barcelona have made their choice for now. Álvarez is on hold. The question is whether the stopgap they find — or the faith they place in what they already have — will be enough when the season’s pressure really bites.
