Barcelona Nears End of Julian Alvarez Pursuit as La Liga Begins

Barcelona are running out of road in their pursuit of Julian Alvarez, and the timing could hardly be worse.

With their La Liga campaign set to begin on Sunday against Elche, the Catalan club are preparing for the new season without a recognised striker in the squad. The gap through the middle is glaring. The clock is louder still.

All summer, Alvarez has been the chosen one. The Atletico Madrid forward has sat at the top of Barcelona’s shortlist for weeks, the preferred solution to a problem everyone at the club can see. Atletico, though, have not budged. Their stance has been clear: Alvarez is not for sale.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona will make one final push to change that. One last offer, one last phone call. If Atletico still refuse to negotiate, the operation is over.

The report states that Barcelona have set a hard deadline of the “next two or three days” to land Alvarez. If nothing moves by then, the club will pivot to an alternative, finally acting on contingency plans that have been circulating in the background for weeks.

Those alternatives have generated an almost endless stream of speculation. Dozens of names have been floated, tested, and thrown into the rumour mill. The latest to emerge is Ayoze Perez, who has reportedly joined the list of possible options to bolster the attack.

The Alvarez saga has dominated Barcelona’s summer, overshadowing much of their build-up to the new season. Now, with the opener against Elche almost here and time running out, the story is approaching its conclusion.

Either Atletico bend in the coming days, or Barcelona walk away and start the season forced into a different solution up front.