Barcelona’s chase for a No.9 may not be over. Not by a long shot.
According to El Chiringuito TV, people close to Julian Alvarez believe the situation at Atletico Madrid could deteriorate enough over the season to force the club to rethink their hardline stance. In a twist that would have seemed impossible a few weeks ago, the feeling in the striker’s camp is that Atletico might eventually be the ones knocking on Barcelona’s door.
This is the same Julian Alvarez who sat at the top of Barça’s shortlist to lead their attack. The preferred option. The one they truly wanted to build around at centre-forward. Yet when it came to crunch time in the summer window, Barcelona simply could not break Atletico’s resistance. The Metropolitano stayed shut.
Barcelona turned to Gabriel Jesus instead. A big name, a proven forward, a solution of sorts. But not a full stop. Inside the club, the idea that Alvarez could still be the long-term answer through the middle has never really gone away. Jesus arrived, the story did not end. It just moved into the background.
Atletico, for their part, treated the matter as closed. Throughout the summer, their position was blunt: Alvarez was not for sale. The message from the Madrid hierarchy was that the Argentine would remain, the noise from Barcelona would fade, and the market would move on.
It hasn’t. The question of Alvarez’s future still hangs over the season before it has truly settled.
The key variable now is not Barcelona’s desire. That has been clear for months. It is Atletico’s capacity to hold their line if the atmosphere around the player sours. Alvarez’s camp reportedly believes the current dynamic at the club could become “untenable” as the campaign unfolds, a word that changes the entire transfer equation.
If that prediction comes true, the power balance in any negotiation shifts dramatically. In the summer, Barcelona were trying to prise away a player Atletico had no intention of losing. In January, they might be dealing with a club more open to talks, perhaps even one willing to initiate them.
Financially, the Catalans are not without options. The club is understood to have around €60 million of Financial Fair Play margin available, enough to explore another major move if the right opportunity lands on the table. Alvarez fits that category. Few centre-forwards on the market combine his age, profile and ceiling.
There is also another layer to this evolving story. New intermediaries with links to both Barcelona and Atletico are expected to be involved if the situation advances. Their role could be crucial in turning a theoretical opening into a concrete negotiation, particularly if tensions rise between player and club.
For now, it remains just that: a scenario, not a plan. Atletico still publicly stand firm. Alvarez is still their striker. Barcelona still have Gabriel Jesus to lead the line.
But if the season at the Metropolitano takes the turn Alvarez’s camp fears, the winter window could present something Barcelona rarely get in the market for elite No.9s: a second chance.
