Barcelona Expands No.9 Search with Kroupi as Álvarez Talks Stall
Barcelona’s hunt for a new No.9 has taken a fresh twist. Julián Álvarez remains the name written in bold at the top of their list, but the Spanish champions have now sounded out Bournemouth striker Eli Junior Kroupi as they brace for a complicated summer in the market.
Robert Lewandowski has gone, bound for Chicago Fire and MLS after spearheading Barça’s attack for three seasons. Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi have already arrived to inject pace and unpredictability into Hansi Flick’s forward line. What the squad still lacks is a pure centre-forward to anchor it all.
That role, in Barça’s ideal world, belongs to Álvarez.
Álvarez bid on the table – but not forever
Joan Laporta has already gone public: Barcelona have made an offer for Álvarez. The Argentina striker has been clear about his intentions, telling ESPN in June that he wants to leave Atlético Madrid. Even so, Atlético have not blinked. The bid has been rejected.
Laporta insists the proposal is not being withdrawn. It will stay on the table in case Atlético soften their stance. But there is a time limit, even if the club have not put a specific date on it. Barcelona cannot afford to sit and wait while the rest of Europe shops for strikers.
So they are moving in parallel.
Kroupi: the new name in Barça’s notebook
As the Álvarez talks stall, attention has turned to Eli Junior Kroupi. A source has told ESPN that Barcelona have enquired about the Bournemouth forward’s availability, testing the water around one of the Premier League’s most intriguing young attackers.
Kroupi is only 20. He joined Bournemouth from Lorient last summer for €15 million and exploded in his first season in England: 13 goals in 35 appearances, a breakout campaign that has not gone unnoticed. He is already a France U21 international and has drawn admiring glances from several of Europe’s heavyweight clubs.
Bournemouth, though, are in no mood to cash in easily. Reports suggest they would demand upwards of €100 million to even consider letting him go. For a player signed a year ago at a fraction of that fee, it is a statement of how highly they rate him – and how expensive Plan B might become for Barcelona.
Flick reshapes the attack
Behind all these names is a clear idea. Hansi Flick wants to rip up and redraw his forward line as he enters his third season in charge. He has delivered back-to-back LaLiga titles, but the Champions League remains the missing piece. The feeling inside the club is that the attack needs a different profile if they are to compete with Europe’s best over two legs in April and May.
Gordon has arrived from Newcastle United, offering direct running and work-rate from wide. Adeyemi, signed from Borussia Dortmund, brings blistering speed and a threat in behind. Lewandowski’s departure to MLS changes the hierarchy up front, and Marcus Rashford has returned to Manchester United after his loan spell, removing another option who could operate across the front line.
Flick wants a focal point. A striker who can finish moves, but also knit together Gordon, Adeyemi and the creative midfield behind them. Álvarez fits that vision. Kroupi, with his movement and eye for goal, offers a different but intriguing version of it.
Uncertain futures and rising stakes
The uncertainty does not end there. Ferran Torres, the man who scored Spain’s winning goal in the World Cup final against Argentina, also faces an unclear future. His role under Flick, and within a revamped attack, is far from guaranteed. Any significant bid could force difficult decisions at board level.
Barcelona have already unveiled a new away kit in collaboration with the Kobe brand and pledged support for the family of the worker who died during the Camp Nou renovation. Off the pitch, the club continues to project ambition and responsibility.
On the pitch, the message is just as blunt: the champions are reshaping their attack, and they intend to do it now.
Whether the new No.9 is Álvarez, Kroupi, or someone yet to emerge from the shadows will go a long way to deciding how far this team can stretch its dominance beyond Spain.
