Barcelona have made their call. After scouring the market, they won't sign any centre-forward unless they land Julian Alvarez, the Atletico Madrid striker.
According to Spanish radio station "Cadena Ser", the Catalan club will chase the deal until the very last moment. Alvarez is Hansi Flick's priority target, and Barcelona know just how hard the player himself is pushing for the move.
Mikel Arteta has already made his interest clear, calling the Argentine personally. But Alvarez has no intention of joining Arsenal. He wants Barcelona and nobody else.
Harry Kane, Lautaro Martinez and Joao Pedro round out the other options for the centre-forward role. None of them are available to Barcelona.
Cheaper names like Tresoldi and Elye Kroupi draw admiration, yet neither would raise the level of the current squad.
Should the Alvarez deal collapse, the radio station reports that Flick will turn inward. Raphinha, Gordon, Adeyemi, Dani Olmo and Hamza Abdelkarim could all be asked to fill the striker's role.
Hamza Abdelkarim stays firmly in Flick's plans, even after missing Barcelona's opening league match against Elche.
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