After the transfer drama surrounding Julian Alvarez: Barca wanted to sign another star striker
After their unsuccessful efforts to sign Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez, sporting director Deco has confirmed that Barcelona looked at another highly decorated striker.
Speaking to Sky Italia, the former midfielder revealed that the Catalans wanted to sign Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez: "It is true that at a certain point Lautaro was among the strikers we evaluated and considered suitable to play for Barca - he was one of the players we had our eye on."
Inter, though, blocked the move, so the Blaugrana chose not to make a concrete approach. "He is an icon, an Inter legend, and even today he is captain there. Out of respect for the player and the club, when Inter told us they were not prepared to negotiate, we stopped our approach and did not discuss the matter any further," said Deco, stressing: "We never had the slightest contact with Lautaro, nor with his adviser. However, it is also true that he is a player we admired greatly and still admire today. I personally am a big fan of Lautaro."
Instead, shortly before the transfer window closed, Barca signed Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus to add depth to the squad. Alongside Robert Lewandowski, who left for MLS on a free transfer (Chicago Fire), the reigning champions also lost Ferran Torres, who joined Paris Saint-Germain for €48.5 million. Alvarez was originally supposed to fill the gap. However, the planned signing of the Argentine proved far more complicated than expected.
Barca: Why did the Julian Alvarez transfer fail?
Atletico threw a spanner in the works, rejected Barcelona's offer and pointed firmly to the contractually stipulated release clause of a huge €500 million. The deal collapsed and Alvarez stayed in Madrid despite having openly communicated his desire to leave, where he has been facing major backlash from the fans.
Even without a like-for-like replacement in attack, coach Hansi Flick's forward line has looked clinical and highly dangerous this season.
Most of all, Flick's decision to move Raphinha away from the left wing and into the centre-forward position has so far proved a masterstroke. The Brazilian has an incredible 14 goals in eight competitive matches and has also directly set up three more.
Meanwhile, team-mate Lamine Yamal has contributed seven goals. Karim Adeyemi is impressing too. The Germany international, who missed a glorious chance on national team coach Jürgen Klopp's debut against the Netherlands (1-1), already has six goal contributions to his name (three goals and three assists).
