Forward had been considered internally but the club are now moving in a different direction
Barcelona have ended their interest in Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez as the successor to Robert Lewandowski.
At 25, Alvarez had been considered as the necessary marquee signing to succeed Robert Lewandowski, who is now 37 with his contract expiring at the end of the season.
The former Manchester City striker’s pedigree as a Premier League and World Cup winner made him an attractive possibility, even though signing him would have required navigating a complicated and expensive negotiation with Atletico, who brought him in only last year.
But Barcelona have now cooled the idea, according to Sport. Barcelona’s technical staff are understood to want a striker with a profile closer to that of Raphinha.
It did not help that Alvarez was incredibly poor against Barcelona at the Camp Nou this week, where he made only two touches in the opposition box and his manager Diego Simeone had to jump to his defence after the game.
Price is another major obstacle. Atletico inserted a €500m release clause when they signed Alvarez and it is understood the club have vowed not to entertain offers below €200m.
Barcelona are prepared to pay for a marquee signing if necessary but they would hardly ever consider that kind of scenario.
Sporting director Deco has also previously said that the club are “not obsessed” with signing a striker. Ferran Torres has impressed over the past year, even keeping Lewandowski on the bench, and Deco hinted the club has enough confidence in him to reduce any haste to sign a new striker.
