‘Standout Candidate’—Barcelona Identify ‘Perfect’ Robert Lewandowski Successor | OneFootball

Robert Lewandowski, who turns 37 in August, is heading into the final year of his contract at Barcelona, and reports claim that Julián Álvarez is the player president Joan Laporta sees as the ideal candidate to succeed him.

Barcelona are already planning for life after Lewandowski, in full knowledge that it will be a tough task to replace one of the best center forwards of the 21st century—the Pole scored 42 goals during 2024–25 to reinforce his greatness, helping the Catalan giants swept to a domestic treble.

In Atlético Madrid forward Álvarez, who finished last season without a trophy to his name for the first time in his career, Laporta feels there's a ready-made replacement who will be the perfect fit for Hansi Flick and Barcelona's style, per The Athletic.

Laporta's admiration for Álvarez isn't a recent development. "La Araña" had a stellar debut season with Atlético, scoring 29 goals and adding eight assists in 57 appearances, having signed for the club from Manchester City in a deal worth up to €95 million ($104 million at the time).

Back in May, Atlético Madrid president Enrique Cerezo commented on the situation. In an interview, he was told Laporta admitted to liking Álvarez, prompting Atléti's president to say: "And I like [Lamine] Yamal, we have the same taste."

Julián Álvarez scored twice vs. Barcelona in 2024–25. / IMAGO/AOP.Pres

There are no plans for Barcelona to pursue Álvarez this summer, with Nico Williams emerging as the club's top target. The mission to sign the 2022 World Cup champion would be tabled for 2026–27, but even then, it'd be a very difficult transfer to secure.

Recently, Álvarez's agent Fernando Hidalgo spoke to Argentinian outlet TYC Sports and touched on Braça's reported interest on the player.

“Since he [Álvarez] followed Messi's career from a young age, obviously there aren't many persons in Argentina that don't have feelings towards Barcelona,” Hidalgo said. “Julián is very grateful for many Barcelona players that have always spoken very highly of him, like [Pau] Cubarsí.

“Atlético Madrid's position is for him to stay next season,” Hidalgo added, before offering insight on what could happen in the future. “Soccer is always changing. We'll see how the negotiation goes. They [Barcelona] would have to communicate with the club [Atlético] who'd evaluate the situation and then there'd be a negotiation between all three parties.”

What's unquestionable is that if the Argentina international continues his steady improvement, there's few strikers in the world more capable of succeeding Lewandowski at Barcelona.