Barcelona Sporting Director Hints at Summer Striker Hunt but Refuses to Rush

Barcelona sporting director Deco has acknowledged that the club will explore the market for a new center-forward when the window reopens, yet he insists no negotiations are underway despite mounting speculation linking the Catalans with Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez.

Speaking ahead of Friday’s Champions League last-16 draw, Deco stressed that February is too soon for concrete talks. “We haven’t spoken with any clubs because it’s not the right time. When the time is right, we’ll talk. No one is signing players in February,” he told Mundo Deportivo.

Alvarez is among several attacking options on Barcelona’s radar, but Deco emphasized that the club already possesses reliable goal-scorers. “There are many players we like. We currently have two strikers: Ferran has become a true number 9 in the last two years, he scores goals, he has the stats. Robert continues to score goals and is nearing the end of his contract, but it’s not the time to talk yet.”

Deco also assessed Barcelona’s European prospects, expressing confidence regardless of Monday’s draw outcome. “They are two different teams. PSG is a fantastic team, with very high-level players, who play beautiful football, who share some of our ideas, and they are difficult to beat because of their quality,” he said. “We already had a tough match against Newcastle this year, so the difficulty will be different for each team, but I think we have the quality to go through.”

Barcelona will learn their next European opponent when the draw is conducted on Friday.