Hamza in the picture: how Deco prepared for Atletico's stubbornness in the Alvarez deal

Smart solutions save the day

Barcelona have closed the summer window without Julian Alvarez, their biggest target of the transfer period. Yet they end it convinced they have found enough solutions to cover the out-and-out striker role.

Signing Brazilian Gabriel Jesus in the final moments is seen as the last piece of a plan sporting director Deco drew up months ago, anticipating exactly the scenario that unfolded: the Argentine never joining the Catalan side's ranks.

The Spanish newspaper "Sport" revealed that Deco never hid, within his inner circle, how difficult it would be to sign Alvarez and prise him away from Atletico Madrid.

So while Barcelona kept that possibility alive, Deco worked on alternatives. The name of English striker Anthony Gordon emerged as a highly attractive option.

Gordon's natural position is on the wing. But the sporting director grew particularly taken with him last season while analysing several Newcastle United matches in which Gordon featured as an out-and-out striker.

His reading of the role and his movement won great admiration from Deco, especially the ease with which he adapts to two different positions without any drop in his level.

Deco moved fast and in complete secrecy, contacting those around the player and making several trips to London until he steered the deal home on 27 May.

With most of the focus on Alvarez's situation, Barcelona had already secured their alternative.

Gordon is seen as more than just a winger. Deco admires the Englishman's full range: his ability to break through from the flanks and attack spaces, how he positions himself when playing centrally, the ease with which he drops to receive the ball and join build-up play, plus a height that gives him extra solutions as a striker who feeds on crosses and aerial balls.

For quite some time, the sporting director had been pushing a clear idea with those close to him. Gordon can play as a winger and as an out-and-out striker according to the needs of coach Hansi Flick, and that flexibility was one of the most decisive factors in the gamble to sign him.

This move fortified Barcelona against any scenario involving Alvarez, and it coincided with the emergence of youngster Hamza Abdelkarim, who has proven he can offer another option for the same position.

By the final weeks of the mercato, Barcelona knew that even if the big deal fell through, they were not obliged to sign for the sake of it.

Then came the surprise. In the final hours, Barcelona signed Brazilian Gabriel Jesus for 10 million euros. The striker put pen to a two-year contract with the option of a further season, a deal the Catalan club sees as an ideal opportunity in the market.

The Jesus deal carries limited financial risk. Recover his best level, and he could deliver a very significant performance, completing the support for a position that for long stretches of the summer had seemed to hinge entirely on the Alvarez file.

Barring any unexpected change, the Argentine will now stay another season with Atletico Madrid. Barcelona had been preparing for that outcome for a long time. Gordon arrived first, a player Deco saw from the outset as more than just a winger, then Hamza Abdelkarim secured his place, and at the very last gasp Gabriel Jesus appeared.

Barcelona could not land the striker they had identified as their main target. But Deco left a plan in place, one set in motion long before the window reached its final hours, so they would never rely on Julian Alvarez alone.