According to Marca, Deco met with Álvarez's agent in Madrid today.

Flick is pushing for a striker signing. This position has been vacant since Robert Lewandowski's departure, and there are clear doubts about whether Ferran Torres will remain at Barcelona, making the addition of a center forward even more urgent. Barcelona identified their target nearly a year ago: Júlian Álvarez. In recent hours, Deco traveled to Madrid to accelerate this transfer, as Atlético Madrid has refused to negotiate. His trip aimed to map out an acquisition strategy and assess the real possibility of completing the deal. The two sides met today.

Flick again requested a center forward on Monday. Deco's goal is to meet the German coach's demands and assemble a competitive, title-contending squad for the 2025-26 season. Since last year, the sporting director and several senior Barcelona officials have examined the possibility of signing Álvarez, but the deal has stalled due to Atlético Madrid's refusal to release him.

The Rojiblancos rejected Barcelona's €100 million offer and demanded a release clause worth close to €500 million. However, Barcelona has not given up and still believes he will eventually join, which is why Deco traveled to Madrid in recent days—news first reported by Jijantes and later confirmed by Marca. Barcelona hopes to finalize its next approach with the Argentine international's agent to pressure Atlético Madrid into accepting his departure. Joao Amaral also traveled to Madrid on the same flight, but this Barcelona executive was not involved in the transfer discussions; that role falls to Bojan, who was traveling to attend a scouting conference.

Support for Álvarez

Deco's trip also served to reaffirm to the player and his representatives that Barcelona is genuinely committed to signing him and that he remains a top priority. This underscores Barcelona's strong determination to land him.

At this stage, Barcelona believes Álvarez's personal stance is crucial. He has been asked to rejoin Simeone's training on August 10th, and Barcelona's management believes a firm commitment from the player could accelerate the transfer process.

Barcelona believes he will join and will do everything possible to bring him to the Blaugrana in the 2025-26 season, but the club will not break its budget for him, nor will it wait indefinitely, as Flick has been advocating. However, he remains the number one target, and Barcelona still believes there is room for this transfer to materialize.

The Catalan club has stated that this week will be decisive in determining how realistic this transfer actually is.

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