Risk or confidence? Flick opens the door to surprises to compensate for Lewandowski

Barcelona now find themselves in danger of beginning the new season without an out-and-out striker of the kind they have relied upon in recent years. That scenario hands coach Hansi Flick an extremely difficult tactical test, especially as his previous success with Bayern Munich and Barcelona was primarily built on having a scoring machine capable of turning the team's superiority and control into goals.

Lewandowski held one of the most important keys to Flick's success with Bayern Munich, and the same story played out at Barcelona. There, the German coach had a striker who could exploit half-chances, finish off attacks, and give the team a constant presence inside the penalty area.

Herein lies the danger. Barcelona are not merely facing a numerical shortage in the out-and-out striker position, they may lose the weapon that gave Flick's attacking system its finished form.

Starting the season without a lethal striker who scores regularly, then, looks a genuine risk, even if Flick has the ability to devise different tactical solutions.

Barcelona have staked almost all their cards on signing Julian Alvarez, viewing him as the ideal solution to fill the anticipated void up front. The path to the deal, though, looks fiendishly complicated from the outset. Atletico Madrid have no desire to negotiate with Barcelona over selling the player in the first place.

Alvarez may be pushing hard for a move to Spotify Camp Nou, but the player's wish alone does not appear enough to open the door. Atletico have no intention of easily giving up one of their most important attacking assets.

Real Madrid have made matters worse. They entered the picture at the start of the summer with a 150 million euro offer for Alvarez, a bid that raised the financial expectations around the player and left Atletico even more insistent on landing a huge sum before sanctioning his departure.

That 150 million euro equation looks almost impossible for Barcelona. It is extremely difficult to imagine the Catalan board agreeing to pay such a figure for a single deal, particularly given the financial complications the club faces and its need to handle the transfer file cautiously.

So Barcelona find themselves facing a difficult equation. The player wants to move, his club does not want to negotiate, and his potential price exceeds the resources available to the Catalan board. Between all three, the centre-forward position remains without a clear solution.

Deco does not appear to have a clear alternative should the Alvarez deal collapse. True, the newspapers have linked the sporting director's club with Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez, but that talk seems closer to rumour than to a genuine deal in the making, especially as the player is regarded as untouchable within the Italian club.

With the options dwindling, Flick may be forced to turn to unconventional solutions rather than wait for a new centre-forward to arrive before the start of the season.

Hansi Flick has pulled a striking tactical rabbit from the hat before at Barcelona. He handed Raphinha a freer role on the left, and that shift opened up space for Lamine Yamal to shine on the right.

So the question now is whether the German will go bolder still: move Raphinha to false nine and unleash his eye for goal, along with the relentless pressing he brings against defenders.

Raphinha has the tools for the job. He thrives on constant movement, he presses tirelessly, and he carries a clear sharpness in front of goal. That combination could let Flick deploy him as a mobile forward rather than lean on a traditional striker camped inside the box.

Barcelona's signing of Anthony Gordon to play on the left wing only strengthens the logic. Flick now has a fresh option on the flank Raphinha has occupied of late.

Shifting Raphinha into central areas, then, would not necessarily strip the team of a key man out wide, especially if Gordon proves he can fill the role and hand the attack the pace and penetration it needs.

Karim Adeyemi's name also enters the frame. The forward, who arrived from Borussia Dortmund, can operate as a false nine on top of covering both wings.

His problem lies in the traffic on the flanks. Locking down a regular starting spot would be tough if he is pigeonholed as a winger, so using him through the middle becomes the logical route to break into the starting eleven.

What begins as a temporary experiment could harden into a genuine option if Barcelona fail to land an out-and-out striker. Flick has already shown he will redeploy players to suit his system rather than stick to their natural positions.
Gordon cannot be discounted for the false nine role either, particularly given he has played there before with Newcastle in the Premier League.

Amid all these complications, one name stands out as a potential beneficiary of Barcelona's crisis at centre-forward: Egyptian striker Hamza Abdelkarim. The player joined the first team during pre-season, and Hansi Flick remains keen to keep him with the group just days before the Joan Gamper Trophy.

Flick's decision followed a series of eye-catching displays from Hamza in the friendlies. Those performances have earned the Egyptian a genuine chance to keep working with the first team, at a time when Barcelona are hunting for a solution to their out-and-out striker crisis.

For Hamza, that crisis could become an exceptional opportunity. He has found himself in the German coach's plans at an unexpected moment, and with the season fast approaching, he could turn into one of Flick's new bets.

Picturing Hamza as Barcelona's main striker from the opening day is naturally difficult, given the scale of responsibility the role demands at a club chasing every trophy. But emerging as an option off the bench looks a strong possibility.

Flick may turn to Hamza in tricky matches where Barcelona need an out-and-out striker who can attack aerial balls and feed off crosses. That gives the Egyptian a particular edge, with no other player in the squad offering similar qualities in this area.

The absence of a ready-made solution in the transfer market, then, could flip from a crisis for Barcelona into an opportunity for Hamza Abdelkarim.

Every twist in the Álvarez saga pushes the club further from signing a new out-and-out striker. And the further they drift, the more likely it becomes that Flick is forced to lean on the players already at his disposal.

None of this means Barcelona have decided to build around Hamza as their main striker, or that the player has become the definitive answer to the team's problem. But the German coach's continued trust in him through pre-season confirms the door has not been shut.

The kind of matches in which Barcelona might need a striker capable of dealing with crosses also hands Hamza something the other options lack. Raphinha or Ademi can play the false nine, yet the Egyptian offers a more traditional presence inside the penalty area.

Flick may therefore end up with an attacking system built on variety rather than a fixed centre-forward. Raphinha or Ademi can drop into the false nine in some games, with Hamza Abdelkarim called upon when the match demands an out-and-out striker who can exploit crosses and aerial play.

The tactical solution may work in some matches, and the emergence of Hamza Abdelkarim could give the team a surprise boost. But a set of alternative solutions does not easily make up for a striker of Lewandowski's calibre, especially since Flick's own system has historically drawn considerable benefit from a goalscoring machine up front.

Barcelona therefore face two contradictory options. They can keep pressing in the market for an out-and-out striker capable of leading the line, or they can trust Flick's tactical solutions and give the current players a chance to fill the void.

With the Alvarez deal proving difficult and no clear alternative so far, Barcelona may have no choice but to embark on a new adventure. Raphinha, Ademi and Hamza Abdelkarim would become parts of a collective solution to a problem at a position tied for years to Lewandowski's name.

This scenario may be a major gamble. Yet it could also become fresh proof of Flick's ability to craft solutions from within his own side. Between the two possibilities, the start of the season remains the real test of Barcelona's ability to make up for a goalscoring machine around which the German coach has been accustomed to building his successes.