Hamza Abdelkarim, Barcelona's young forward, has entered the calculations of his coach Hansi Flick among the available options to fill in for Raphinha, should the Brazilian winger fail to recover in time or should the German coach decide to rest him against Getafe.
Raphinha is nursing an injury to his right thigh muscle. That prompted him to leave the Brazil national team's camp in Brisbane, before heading to Kolkata for a friendly against India, and return to Barcelona to complete his treatment programme and recover ahead of the resumption of official competitions.
The Brazilian Football Confederation left the player out of the squad "as a precautionary measure", following initial medical examinations, with him due to undergo further tests as soon as he arrives at Barcelona's sports city.
Should the tests confirm that the injury is no more than swelling, Barcelona hope Raphinha will recover before the meeting with Getafe, scheduled for 10 October.
Raphinha has become indispensable to Barcelona's line-up since the start of the season. He has scored 14 goals and provided 3 assists, and he has influenced 7 of the 8 official matches the team has played.
If he's not ready, or if Flick prefers not to risk him, the German coach has several alternatives. Among them is Hamza Abdelkarim, who has played only 4 minutes with the first team so far, according to the newspaper "Mundo Deportivo".
Gabriel Jesus tops the list of options on the table, after Barcelona signed him from Arsenal for 10 million euros, following the failure to land Julian Alvarez.
Jesus has featured in 4 of 5 official matches without starting any of them. Yet in only 39 minutes he managed to score twice, against Racing and Feyenoord.
Flick had also previously considered deploying Anthony Gordon in the out-and-out striker role, that was before signing Jesus, while Karim Adeyemi was among the names considered, before the German player dropped out of the coach's calculations given that he was not convinced about using him in this position.
Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez sit among the options too, with both able to occupy the striker position in certain circumstances, especially when Barcelona are seeking more movement and pressing up front.
Neither Olmo nor Fermin is an out-and-out striker, but their ability to move without the ball, press the opponent and get into the penalty area gives them the capacity to perform this role when needed.
The final option is Lamine Yamal, although he is less likely at present. The Spanish star prefers to move from the right wing and take on defenders, but Flick had previously studied the possibility of deploying him in a more central role.