Who will be Barcelona’s center forward next season?
That’s the most important question that the Blaugrana need to answer this summer.
Robert Lewandowski is off to Chicago, and his replacement at this point is anyone’s guess. Ferran Torres will likely return to the Camp Nou, although his contact renewal has yet to be resolved, and Hamza Abdelkarim is a young prospect to throw into the mix.
Joan Laporta and Deco got off to a busy start this summer with the surprise signing of Anthony Gordon for €80 million,
but the real investment is needed to finance the next striker.
I still don’t understand where the money is coming from all of a sudden, but Barcelona are projecting confidence that they will be able to make a strong offer for Julian Alvarez that will certainly be a number north of €100 million.
The strange thing about Alvarez is that he’s barely getting minutes for Argentina. Even at Atletico Madrid, he wasn’t a day in and day out starter. For that reason, his valuation is a conundrum.
At Barcelona, he looks like a perfect fit, but the numbers have to make sense.
With that in mind, enter Mikel Oyarzabal.
At 29 years old, he has been one of the most reliable strikers in La Liga for the past decade, recording over 100 goals.
For Spain at this World Cup, he has been consistently bright with four goals in four games.
Oyarzabal isn’t flashy, and he isn’t the aspirational choice for Barcelona, but if Atletico Madrid play hardball, he may be the option that Barcelona go with.
His release clause is reportedly set at €75 million. Barcelona won’t be willing to pay that much. If Real Sociedad is willing to negotiate because the player makes his desires clear, perhaps the price ends up somewhere between €40-60 million. That’s a fraction of what Alvarez would cost, and could allow Barcelona to bring in better defensive reinforcements too.
Ultimately, Barcelona will have to ask themselves if their squad is good enough to keep pace with the flurry of signings that Real Madrid are making, and if they are deep enough to remain competitive for a shot at a Champions League title too.
Kylian Mbappe is on fire this World Cup. That doesn’t mean things will automatically click for him at Real Madrid too under Jose Mourinho, but it should send Barcelona a message that they will need a prolific goal scorer on the field too.
It will be interesting to see how things progress at the World Cup for all the big names that are on the radar for Barcelona.
When the competition is over, it will be time for business.
The first game of the La Liga season is just over a month away, and if Barcelona want to make it three trophies in a row, they must continue to strengthen their squad.
So what’s the right move? Pragmatism or ambition?
