Deco flies to Portugal: has Barcelona sealed the deal for the new striker?
Barça moves in the final days of the transfer window in anticipation of the failure to sign Álvarez
Barcelona sporting director Deco flew to Lisbon on Friday as the Catalan club intensifies its hunt for an out-and-out striker, with less than two weeks left before the summer window shuts.
These are decisive days in the market for Barcelona. The club still need to reinforce the centre-forward position, and their pursuit of Argentina's Julian Alvarez has hit major obstacles.
"RAC 1" radio broke the story, and "Sport" newspaper confirmed it: Deco left Terminal 1 at Barcelona airport this afternoon bound for Lisbon, where a packed schedule of meetings on sporting planning and the transfer market awaits.
A new striker at the top of Deco's priorities
Signing a striker sits among Deco's foremost priorities on this trip, with the club studying several options to strengthen the front line.
Negotiations over Julian Alvarez have grown seriously complicated. That has pushed the management to work on more than one front at once and to line up alternatives should the deal prove impossible.
Two players in the Portuguese league have been linked with Barcelona in recent weeks: Sporting Lisbon's Luis Suarez and Benfica's Vangelis Pavlidis.
Will Deco bring a new deal from Lisbon?
Nobody yet knows who Deco intends to meet during his visit. The sporting director is expected to use the trip to hold several meetings and push forward some transfer files.
Sources inside Barcelona had earlier denied all the reports about the club's interest in Luis Suarez, the deal that journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed.
Is the trip to Lisbon really tied to the new striker file, or does it fall within other business the Catalan club are working on during the final days of the window? That is the question now.
Important developments could come in the coming days as the deadline nears. Barcelona are still working on more than one option in case the Alvarez deal collapses.
The striker search also shapes the future of young Egyptian Hamza Abdelkarim, who has earned German coach Hansi Flick's trust during pre-season.
