Barcelona Lead Race for Vlahovic as Besiktas Offer Sits Unanswered | OneFootball

Dusan Vlahovic is holding off on a decision over his future, keeping a concrete offer from Besiktas on ice while waiting to see whether Barcelona or Bayern Munich will table a formal proposal, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Vlahovic, 26, became a free agent after parting ways with Juventus following a drawn-out contract standoff – a saga that stretched across the spring amid stalled renewal talks and a shifting front-office structure at Continassa. He travelled to Turkey and held an extended conversation with Besiktas manager Vincenzo Italiano, but despite listening to the full pitch, he has not accepted their offer.

Besiktas have put a significant package on the table: €10 million per season in wages plus a €5 million signing-on bonus. By most standards that is a serious proposal for a free agent, yet Vlahovic’s camp views it as a ceiling rather than a target, and is angling for a move to one of the European heavyweights.

Barcelona Ahead of Bayern in the Queue

Barcelona represent the clearest elite option at this stage. La Gazzetta reports that Barça have held multiple meetings with Vlahovic’s agent and view the Serbian as a long-term successor to Robert Lewandowski. Fabrizio Romano has separately confirmed that direct contact between the club and the striker’s camp has already taken place. Bayern made an approach around October–November 2025 but have not followed up with anything concrete since, leaving Barcelona as the more active party of the two. Atletico Madrid are also monitoring the situation as they search for a centre-forward.

The financial gap remains the central obstacle. Reports from Catalan outlets indicate Vlahovic’s representatives initially presented Barcelona with a package in the region of €8 million net per season plus a signing bonus approaching €15 million – a structure that strains Barça’s wage framework. Agent commission fees compound the problem further, and the same dynamic that complicated any extension at Juventus is now slowing progress with every club at that level.

Juventus Waiting, Window Ticking

Juventus, whose new leadership under CEO Giovanni Carnevali is reshaping the club’s summer strategy, are described as waiting in the background with an internal deadline approaching to clarify their striker plans. If neither Barcelona nor Bayern convert interest into a written offer, a Juve return cannot be entirely ruled out – though the same wage impasse that ended his stint in Turin would need resolving first. Italian outlets report Vlahovic has indicated to Besiktas that he may not reach a decision until late July, which effectively freezes both the Turkish club’s squad build and Juventus’s planning at centre-forward.

The market logic cuts both ways: with elite clubs in no rush to overcommit financially, the longer Vlahovic holds out, the greater the pressure on his camp to moderate their demands as the window narrows.