Barcelona transfer news: how the Blaugrana plan to land Julian Alvarez

Barcelona reportedly view Julian Alvarez as the ideal striker to replace Robert Lewandowski in the upcoming summer transfer window.

While the Catalan giants currently lack the financial capacity to complete such a blockbuster deal, the club are believed to have a plan in place to make it happen.

With Robert Lewandowski’s contract set to expire in June, the Polish forward is widely expected to leave Barcelona at the end of the season.

Julian Alvarez, the ideal striker to replace Robert Lewandowski

Although Ferran Torres is already at the club and represents a credible internal option, the Spanish giants are dreaming of a move for Julian Alvarez.

For his part, the Argentina international is not opposed to leaving Atletico Madrid, where his chances of competing for the most prestigious trophies are more limited than they would be at Barcelona.

However, Alvarez is among the most highly rated forwards in world football. According to Transfermarkt, he is valued at €100m (£87m), while Atletico could reportedly demand up to €120m (£105m) to sanction a move to their domestic rivals.

Clearly, Barcelona are not currently in a position to finance such an expensive transfer. Nevertheless, Sport claims that if the Blaugrana manage to return to compliance with La Liga’s 1:1 rule, the World Cup winner would become a priority target.

Alvarez to Barcelona: a deal finally within reach?

The 1:1 rule is designed to regulate the finances of Spanish clubs. Introduced under the authority of La Liga president Javier Tebas, the regulation requires every euro spent on transfers or wages to be offset by sales or alternative income streams, such as sponsorship deals, broadcasting revenue or existing cash reserves.

Due to their well-documented financial difficulties, Barcelona have been heavily restricted by this rule in recent transfer windows.

However, the club’s situation has improved in recent months, thanks to positive sporting results and the activation of several financial levers, including the sale of Barça Vision.

If Barcelona are able to fully comply with the 1:1 rule once again, they could realistically revive their hopes of landing Julian Alvarez. That said, they would still need to provide sufficient guarantees that the deal could be balanced financially.

The sale of certain players, such as Marc Casado or Ronald Araujo, along with the departures of high earners including Robert Lewandowski and Marc-André ter Stegen, could potentially allow the club to meet Atletico Madrid’s demands.

This article was originally published on Top Mercato.