Barcelona Pursues Julián Álvarez as Raphinha Shines as No 9

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are still trading blows over Julián Álvarez. Nobody is backing down.

Barça remain fixated on the Argentine striker. Atletico, for now, refuse to even sit at the negotiating table. The standoff has hardened to the point of irritation in Madrid, but the Catalans keep pushing.

Spanish newspaper El País reports that inside the club, Raphinha is quietly proving Hansi Flick and sporting director Deco right. Long before the window heated up, the pair had drawn a clear line: if neither Álvarez nor Inter’s Lautaro Martínez arrived, no other striker on the market would improve what Barcelona already had.

They tried anyway. They went after Álvarez and are still doing so, the pursuit intense enough to anger Atletico. Deco also picked up the phone to sound out Inter over Lautaro. That enquiry ended quickly. The message from Milan was blunt enough to convince him that chasing a deal there was a waste of time.

So Flick and Deco turned back to what was in front of them. And Raphinha answered.

The Brazilian started the season as an out-and-out centre forward in the opener against Elche and hit two goals. He led the line again against Athletic Bilbao and scored once more. With every finish, the urgency of finding a new No 9 softened a little.

Flick made his stance clear afterwards: “I do not care in which position Raphinha plays, what matters to me is what he shows on the pitch. The fans connect with him and with the team. We have a great atmosphere, and that is the most important thing. What matters is how the press begins.”

While the transfer noise around Álvarez rumbles on, the coach refuses to fuel it. Asked about the Argentine, he cut it short: “I do not want to comment on matters of this kind. We won our second match in a row, and that is what matters to me.”

For now, it looks increasingly unlikely that Barcelona will get their man. Without Julián, the standout piece of summer business is Rodri, who received warm applause from the Camp Nou crowd, El País notes.

Barça may still be arguing with Atletico in the market, but on the pitch, Raphinha has already started to settle the debate in the most convincing way possible: by scoring.