Barcelona weighing striker options with transfer window open until 1 September
Barcelona head into their first La Liga fixture away to Elche on Sunday, 23 August, without an established senior striker in the first-team squad and face the prospect of starting the campaign without a conventional number nine if they do not sign one before the transfer window closes on 1 September. Hansi Flick has experimented with Lamine Yamal as a false nine but prefers to keep the teenager on the right.
The club have reinforced other areas this summer, signing Rodri from Manchester City and adding Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi to provide pace and width; 18-year-old Belgian winger Jesse Bisiwu has also arrived as a longer-term investment. Rodri's arrival was described in the club's transfer coverage as adding a Ballon d'Or winner and World Cup-winning captain to an already well-stocked midfield. Despite those additions, Barcelona's attack lost two experienced forwards in the close season, leaving a gap in the specialist striker position.
Robert Lewandowski, 37, left for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer when his contract expired at the end of last season, while Ferran Torres has joined Paris St-Germain for about 50m euros (£42.7m). Torres scored 21 goals in 49 appearances last season and was often used as an alternative to Lewandowski through the middle. Those departures leave Barcelona without an established senior striker in their first-team squad.
The club have made clear their preferred solution is to sign Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid; the Argentina international, 26, said during the World Cup he would be looking for a move away. Atletico, though, have resisted approaches, with chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin saying the club would not sell Alvarez, not even for 200m euros (£170.8m). That stance has complicated Barcelona's pursuit of a specialist centre-forward.
Flick acknowledged the need to address the situation, saying, "We know we have to do something," and pointed to Lamine Yamal's ability to play as a false nine and the versatility of Gordon and Adeyemi. Yamal comes off a season in which he scored 24 goals and lifted the World Cup with Spain, and his skill in isolating a full-back from the right, cutting inside and creating chances was singled out in the club's briefing. Despite those attributes, Flick's stated preference remains to keep Yamal operating from the right wing.
Other squad options include Dani Olmo, who can operate as a false nine, and Raphinha, who has been used centrally by Flick; Fermin Lopez has also said he is comfortable playing as a false nine. Gordon and Adeyemi offer pace and direct running but neither is a conventional number nine. Barcelona could alternatively deploy a fluid forward line with constant rotation rather than a single striker positioned between the opposition centre-backs, a setup the club suggested could be hard for opponents to defend against.
Several transfer targets have been linked as Barcelona seek a specialist striker: Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres is one name mentioned, with earlier reports saying Arsenal explored including the Sweden international in a deal for Alvarez. Gyokeres, 28, joined Arsenal from Sporting last summer in a deal worth up to 73m euros (£64m) on a five-year contract and scored 21 goals in his first season as the Gunners became Premier League champions. Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez and Sporting's Colombian forward Luis Suarez have also been linked, and Barcelona would face a significant financial commitment to convince another club to sell established strikers.
Club sources say the management team are working hard to act before the transfer window closes on 1 September, with the squad situation to be clarified either by incoming recruitment or tactical adjustments ahead of the first La Liga game at Elche on Sunday, 23 August.