Man City and Barcelona run into same ‘problem’ for French forward – Fabrizio Romano | OneFootball

Manchester City and Barcelona are both facing an uphill struggle to sign a certain coveted Premier League forward, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Following Robert Lewandowski’s summer exit, talk has turned to Barcelona signing a new striker replacement ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

Julian Alvarez has been at the top of their list, with the Argentina international said to be keen on a switch to the Liga champions.

However, Atletico Madrid are doing all they can to keep the 26-year-old, which is forcing Barca into a transfer rethink. Joao Pedro has been linked with them, but it seems the Chelsea man is staying put.

Now, transfer expert Romano has outlined another exciting attacker that is on Barca’s radar: Bournemouth‘s Junior Kroupi.

The 20-year-old scored 13 goals for the Cherries last season and that has led to a great deal of transfer interest for the former Lorient man.

On his YouTube channel, Romano said, “Julian Alvarez, the situation for Barca is becoming difficult. Barcelona are aware of that.

“Atletico Madrid are not opening the doors to the exit of Julian, so Barca are still giving some time to Julian Alvarez to his camp to make something happen, but at this stage Atletico Madrid insist that they will not sell Julian Alvarez to Barcelona, and so Barcelona have started considering alternative options.

“One name to watch in the next weeks of the transfer window is Junior Kroupi. According to my information, Barcelona opened talks with people close to Kroupi and spoke also to Bournemouth about Kroupi as a possibility up front.

“So Barcelona took some information and made some calls to understand the situation. He is a player they appreciate so for sure the name of Kroupi is a name to keep under consideration for Barca.

“The problem is that this deal is also very complicated because Bournemouth don’t want to sell the player this summer. Bournemouth insist on keeping Kroupi at the club this summer and so it’s not easy for Barcelona.”

However, Hansi Flick’s team are not the only side credited with interest in young French forward Kroupi. Romano adds that Man City are also in the race to secure his services.

But as is often the case with highly-rated and sought-after players, this is “not an easy deal”.

Romano added, “Manchester City are another club keen and attentive on the situation of Kroupi but at the moment the problem is the same.

“Whether you are Barcelona or you are Manchester City, Bournemouth want to keep the player at the club.

“So it’s not an easy deal but Barcelona started some conversation and this is showing that Barcelona are also exploring alternative options to Julian Alvarez in case they can’t get the deal done for the Argentinian striker. So conversations are happening around the name of Kroupi.”