Deco confirms Barcelona failed move for world class striker: “We tried to do things in a very correct way” | OneFootball

Barcelona had a very busy summer, but they did not do all of their required. The big miss was their failure to sign a top-level striker, which happened due to Atletico Madrid making it clear that they would not sell to a direct rival.

When it became clear that Barcelona would not be able to sign Alvarez, they started to look at other options. Lautaro Martinez was one of them, as confirmed by sporting director Deco (via MD).

Deco confirms Barcelona still want to sign a striker

Barcelona may have failed to sign an Alvarez or Martinez, but they haven’t missed a goalscorer. Raphinha has been in exceptional form playing as a centre forward, although Deco has made it clear that the club still wants to bring someone in.

“Julian’s has nothing to do with Raphinha’s. A player left for me he is a different ‘nine’, the best ‘nine’, which is Robert Lewandowski, who gave everything, but it was time for changes. The idea was always to bring a ‘nine’ of mobility, of the ability to associate and Julián was one of these. The thing has not been possible, we made an offer. The club has always said that they would not sell him, and we have had to look for other solutions.

“Gabriel Jesus was not in the plans and the moment we decided that Julián was impossible, we began to look for solutions and Gabriel was the perfect one for us. The idea has not changed, it was to look for a player of the same profile.”