Barcelona's Striker Chase Faces Deadline as Deco Prepares Plan B

Barcelona have ticked off one major box this summer with the arrival of Rodri. From here, the board see only two positions as truly urgent: centre-back and centre-forward.

One of those, though, is dominating every internal conversation. The No. 9.

With uncertainty swirling around Julian Alvarez’s future, the search for a new striker has become the club’s defining storyline of the window.

Waiting on Alvarez – but not forever

Alvarez wants Barcelona. The Argentine is keen on a move to Catalonia and is scheduled to sit down with the Atletico Madrid hierarchy later this week to discuss his situation.

That is where the problem starts.

The forward has not yet shown the resolve to force through an exit Atletico do not want. Inside Barcelona, there is a growing feeling that he may not push hard enough against a club that has made its stance brutally clear.

Diego Simeone underlined that point himself earlier today, stating openly that the striker will not leave.

Even so, Barcelona are not walking away. Not yet.

According to the latest from Victor Navarro, sporting director Deco is still giving Alvarez a final window to act. The internal deadline is set: if there is no real movement on the player’s side by Saturday, Barcelona will pivot decisively to alternative options.

Work on those backup plans has already started in the background. Calls have been made, scenarios mapped out, numbers checked. The club will be ready to hit “go” over the weekend if Alvarez’s midweek summit with Atletico produces nothing concrete.

All eyes now fall on that meeting. Inside the Camp Nou offices, there is more hope than expectation.

A thin market and a new leading name

The harsh reality for Barcelona is that the striker market is painfully limited. There are not many centre-forwards who fit the club’s profile, are attainable financially, and can realistically be prised away this summer.

Earlier in the week, Sporting striker Luis Suarez briefly flashed up as a potential solution. The idea sparked interest outside the club, but those links were quickly played down. The talks never carried serious weight.

Now a different name has moved to the front of the queue.

In recent hours, Villarreal striker Georges Mikautadze has emerged as a top target on Barcelona’s list.

For Deco and his recruitment team, the next few days are clear: wait for Alvarez to show he is willing to fight his way out of Atletico, or step firmly into a new race built around alternatives like Mikautadze.

By the time the weekend arrives, Barcelona’s striker plan will either still revolve around Julian Alvarez — or it will belong to someone else.