{"id":71129,"date":"2026-08-16T08:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T08:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/71129\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T08:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T08:18:09","slug":"barcelona-rule-out-move-for-e80-million-rated-forward-target-as-sporting-refuse-to-lower-demand-romano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/71129\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona rule out move for \u20ac80 million-rated forward target as Sporting refuse to lower demand &#8211; Romano"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona have spent much of the summer transfer window focused on signing Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robert Lewandowski left the Catalan giants at the end of last season upon the expiry of his contract, leaving the No. 9 jersey vacant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hansi Flick had chosen <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-absolutely-convinced-two-blockbuster-transfers-will-happen-this-summer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Alvarez as the marquee No. 9<\/a> he wanted to replace the outgoing Pole, but Atletico have refused to negotiate so far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this week, it emerged that <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/just-in-barcelona-eye-28-year-old-colombian-striker-as-backup-flick-approves-the-signing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Bar\u00e7a had identified Sporting CP striker Luis Suarez<\/a> as an alternative if they were not able to land Alvarez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FabrizioRomano\/status\/2088886476214010161?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Fabrizio Romano<\/a>, Barcelona have decided against activating the \u20ac80 million release clause of the Sporting CP striker.<\/p>\n<p>Sporting refuse to lower \u20ac80 million asking price<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/colombia-v-costa-rica-international-friendly-3-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Luis Suarez of Colombia\" class=\"wp-image-209312\"  \/>Barcelona will not activate Luis Suarez\u2019s release clause. (Photo by Andres Rot\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bar\u00e7a consider the \u20ac80 million price tag too expensive and have no intention of meeting the clause. Sporting, meanwhile, are standing firm and will not offer Barcelona a discount.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That position leaves very little room for negotiations. Sporting are prepared to keep Suarez unless his release clause is paid, while Barcelona are unwilling to commit that level of money to the 28-year-old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Colombian certainly offers an interesting profile as a natural centre-forward, but the finances make the operation extremely difficult to justify.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona\u2019s decision is understandable. Spending \u20ac80 million would represent a huge investment for a player who would arrive with significant expectations and limited resale value because of his age.<\/p>\n<p>Bar\u00e7a will have to look elsewhere<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bar\u00e7a seem to have found themselves in a bottomless pit in their search for a new striker this summer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/colombia-v-costa-rica-international-friendly-1-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Luis Suarez of Colombia\" class=\"wp-image-209313\"  \/>Barcelona were interested in Luis Suarez. (Photo by Andres Rot\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ferran Torres\u2019 move to PSG has made the situation even more urgent, but the problem is that selling teams are also aware of the Catalan club\u2019s desperation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Irrespective of whether it is Alvarez, Luis Suarez or some other striker, every club in the market is trying to drive their price up when Bar\u00e7a come knocking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deco has effectively put himself in a very difficult situation where the club have focused on Alvarez for far too long, leaving no realistic alternatives seemingly available on the market.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bar\u00e7a are spot on in their decision not to overpay for Suarez, but the club need to find a new striker in this increasingly scarce market with just about two weeks to go.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their best bet is also their most unrealistic one, and it remains to be seen whether Atletico undergo a change of heart in the final weeks of the window.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barcelona have spent much of the summer transfer window focused on signing Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid. Robert&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,223,3044,2621],"class_list":["post-71129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-luis-suarez","tag-sporting-cp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}