Still no out-and-out No. 9
Barcelona opened the season with a 5-0 rout at Elche. The attack is humming. Deco is still hunting a proper centre-forward before the window shuts.
The reason is plain enough. None of the Catalan forwards is a true No. 9, and Hansi Flick wants another option through the middle.
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The Alvarez door has slammed shut
The Julian Alvarez trail is dead. Atletico Madrid have no interest in selling their striker to a direct rival and want 150 million euros just to open the conversation, a number well beyond anything Barcelona can reach.
So the sporting department widened the net. According to German reports, an unexpected name came up in internal talks: Serhou Guirassy. Barca made enquiries with Borussia Dortmund about the 30-year-old Guinea striker, 22 goals last season, a starter in the recent German Super Cup final.
Fifty million, but a ten-million salary
On paper it worked. Guirassy has a release clause set at 50 million euros and it applies to the Catalan club. The imminent departure of young full-back Hector Fort to Dortmund, for north of 10 million, would have softened the outlay further.
The snag sat elsewhere. As Mundo Deportivo explains, the former Rennes forward earns around 10 million euros net a year, wildly out of step with a Barca wage structure still under strain. The file was shelved almost as soon as it was opened.
A week left, then. At this rate the name that eventually comes out of the hat will be a good deal less glamorous than the ones they started with.
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