With each passing week, it’s becoming more fathomable that Barcelona really sold their soul (translation: pulled lots of different financial levers and mortgaged their future) to win one La Liga title.
Xavi’s men sit third in the standings this season, seven points adrift of league-leaders Real Madrid and Catalan neighbours Girona.
The performances of Robert Lewandowski, who was signed in the summer of 2022 and turns 36 later this year, have come under scrutiny, particularly in big games. Strip away his waning scoring and there’s little for Barca to work with.
Lewandowski is far from a typical Barcelona number nine. He’s not one to get you off your seat unless he’s sticking it in the top corner. He lacks the flair of yesteryear’s strikers.
Vitor Roque has been drafted in as a long-term replacement, but unfortunately for Barca, there’s little room for manoeuvre in trying to find a ready-made Lewandowski alternative now.
You’ve seen the title, you get where we’re going, but let’s establish a few ground rules first. Barcelona aren’t going to sign a Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Victor Osimhen or Harry Kane, so you can cross them off the list.
Barca barely have a pot to, errr, dispel urine into right now. That’s been well-documented. So for a bit more flexibility, assume their finances are just a regular mess as opposed to a catastrophic one. Let’s give ourselves a bit of breathing space to at least find a suitable stylistic choice.
Here’s the six-man shortlist we at 90min have drawn up after taking these factors into account.
Jesus has divided opinion at Arsenal / Catherine Ivill/GettyImages
What better way to start this list than with a player who has admitted he is the antithesis to Lewandowski – a striker who struggles to score goals.
“There are things I can’t control. I train, I look for, I try, I move, I help the team. The goal is inevitable. I believe it’s not my strong point, but I score goals and I’m there to score goals. When coming back, it will happen. It’s work. I work quietly, I’m not one to respond to criticism, I’m not one to be happy for praise. I already was, I won’t be anymore,” he said back in November.
But if you were to move away from Lewandowski, then going with a complete 180-degree switch makes some sort of sense. Jesus is a phenomenal footballer who thrives on bringing others into play, best demonstrated by his start to life at Arsenal and how useless they look in the final third when he isn’t around.
Julian Alvarez
Alvarez has won it all / Jan Kruger/GettyImages
While Haaland is off limits, Barcelona would maybe have a bit more luck trying to pry Julian Alvarez away from Manchester City.
The Argentine is naturally a forward but is often shunted back into midfield when the freakish Norwegian is available. It’s not a plan that’s going to work forever, particularly if Alvarez wants to broaden his horizons having won about 145 trophies already in his career.
Martinez has excelled at Inter / Marco Luzzani/GettyImages
From one diminutive Argentine forward to another, there’s going to be a day where a club rips down Inter’s door to take Lautaro Martinez away.
It might not be Barcelona. Given their finances, it almost certainly won’t be Barcelona. But in a football utopia, it is Barcelona.
La Blaugrana need a striker with an infectious enthusiasm, a hell-bent desire to both help the team anyway anyhow but also score goals himself. El Toro is that striker.
Alexander Isak
Isak has been a hit at Newcastle / Stu Forster/GettyImages
A man of Alexander Isak’s stature should not be able to move the way he so elegantly does.
One of the best things about elite-level sport is you find yourself watching all sorts of incredible phenomena. Isak stands at 6ft4 but moves like he’s 5ft7, combining the subtlety of an undersized forward with the overwhelming presence of his true self.
That’s exactly the sort of jaw-dropping athlete and technician Barcelona need to draw their usual audience.
Firmino could leave Saudi Arabia / Yasser Bakhsh/GettyImages
A player that was available on a free transfer last summer and yet was scarcely linked to Barcelona. Forget about the fact Roberto Firmino is a bonafide Blaugrana star in waiting, why were the club not all over this just from a fiscal standpoint?
Anyway, 90min reported last week Firmino could leave Al Ahli just months after joining and has been offered a route back to the Premier League.
Jonathan David
David has been Lille’s star / ANP/GettyImages
If Barcelona want a striker that could be available for a cut-price deal, then Jonathan David is surely their man.
The Canada international is out of contract in 2025 and is still racking up goals and assists for fun in the north of France. He’s primed for a major move out of Lille, following in the footsteps of Osimhen, Rafael Leao and Mike Maignan.
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