{"id":82044,"date":"2026-09-07T13:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/82044\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T13:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:41:10","slug":"no-julian-no-problem-barcelona-thriving-despite-missing-out-on-priority-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/82044\/","title":{"rendered":"No Julian, no problem &#8211; Barcelona thriving despite missing out on priority target"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mood in Barcelona was naturally one of panic around the centre-forward situation after the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, for both players were the team\u2019s primary goal scorers in clutch moments last season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To lose their starting and backup number nine options in the same summer transfer window appeared to spell disaster, and Julian Alvarez was seen to be a necessity to bridge that void.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eventually, however, the Atletico Madrid star did not arrive, leaving Barcelona stranded without a number nine even on deadline day. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The club went on to sign Gabriel Jesus as a low-cost option, but the reality has now set in that Alvarez may not have mattered as much as many assumed.<\/p>\n<p>A ruthless system<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"719\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/valencia-cf-v-fc-barcelona-laliga-ea-sports-2026-27-9-1024x719.jpg\" alt=\"Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Barcelona player\" class=\"wp-image-211973\"  \/>Raphinha and Yamal have been on fire. (Photo by David Ramos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not having a traditional number nine has surprisingly worked out well for Hansi Flick\u2019s Barcelona which has always thrived as a fluid and dynamic setup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Missing out on Alvarez seemed like a disaster in the making for Barcelona under two weeks ago, but it suddenly <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/the-five-goal-tradition-rodris-debut-league-leaders-three-takeaways-from-valencia-0-5-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">no longer appears to be<\/a> even a remote limiting factor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In just four games, Barcelona have scored seventeen goals with Raphinha excelling as a deeper-lying striker. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez have exploded into life and have scored goals for fun while even Anthony Gordon has settled wonderfully.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no doubt that Alvarez would be an upgrade to the squad and add a valuable profile. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, there is really no need for Barcelona to panic and their decision not to overpay for the player or force a transfer has turned out to be the right one.<\/p>\n<p>A handy backup<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is talk that Barcelona will go all out again for Alvarez in the winter transfer window, and again next summer if they do not manage to sign him earlier.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/atletico-de-madrid-v-villarreal-cf-laliga-ea-sports-2026-27-6-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Julian Alvarez, Atletico Madrid player\" class=\"wp-image-210440\"  \/>Will Barcelona push for Alvarez again? (Photo by Angel Martinez\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, however, they have brought in Jesus as a valuable backup option in what could be a signing that surprises many.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former Arsenal star is currently rated lower than ever owing to his poor fitness and lack of match-practice in recent times. As a profile, however, he is a perfect fit for Flick\u2019s system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Given the right role and fitness regimen, the Brazilian star can thus go on to surprise many as a number nine for Barcelona. Raphinha will be the number one choice, but Jesus adds serious depth and quality if he can stay fit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mood in Barcelona was naturally one of panic around the centre-forward situation after the departures of Robert&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,223,930,674],"class_list":["post-82044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-hansi-flick","tag-julian-alvarez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82044","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=82044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}