Barcelona have made no contact with Arsenal for 28-year-old superstar – Romano | OneFootball

Barcelona have made significant progress in the transfer window in the past 24 hours, closing in on two major arrivals.

Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo has agreed to a contract termination with Al Hilal and will fly to Barça next week to complete his signing on a free transfer.

More importantly, the Catalans have reached an agreement with Manchester City for the signing of Rodri.

With two major arrivals on the way, it looks like Barça are not yet done and will shift their attention to a new striker next.

Arsenal No. 9 Viktor Gyokeres has been identified as a potential alternative, with the Julian Alvarez talks going nowhere.

No Barcelona approach for Gyokeres

However, according to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal have received neither a phone call nor any direct contact from Barcelona regarding the Swedish international.

As things stand, there have been no club-to-club discussions with Arsenal.

Barcelona have not contacted Arsenal for Gyokeres. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Earlier suggestions of an active Barcelona pursuit are premature, with Deco yet to open negotiations or formally explore the conditions of a possible transfer.

The financial demands of any operation would also have to be considered.

Arsenal would have little incentive to make the striker easily available, meaning Barcelona would potentially be looking at another expensive deal if their interest ever became concrete.

Barça still searching for their striker solution

Barcelona’s situation at centre-forward has become one of the major issues of the final weeks of the transfer window.

Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres have both departed, leaving Hansi Flick without an established senior natural No. 9.

Hamza Abdelkarim is currently the most natural option available, while Flick can also use players such as Lamine Yamal, Anthony Gordon or Karim Adeyemi centrally.

Julian Alvarez remains the striker Flick and Deco, particularly admire, but Atletico Madrid’s refusal to negotiate has made that operation extremely complicated.

Gyokeres is reportedly identified as Julian Alvarez replacement. (Photo by Linnea Rheborg/Getty Images)

Thus, Gyokeres could emerge as a serious option should Barça decide to go in that direction in the coming days.

Barça’s Gyokeres pursuit could trigger a transfer domino

Barcelona may not yet have positioned themselves for the 28-year-old Swede, but should they do so, it could trigger a domino effect in the transfer market.

Gyokeres did not have the greatest first season in England and looks to be behind Kai Havertz in Mikel Arteta’s plans for the new season.

Arsenal have also been linked with a move for Julian Alvarez, and Atletico Madrid may be more open to selling him to the Gunners than to a direct rival in Barça.

This could in turn prompt Los Colchoneros to go for Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen, who would suit their system well.

Thus, Barça could trigger a house-of-cards effect in the transfer window in the coming days, and it will be interesting to see how the negotiations pan out.