Overview
- Raphinha opened the scoring in Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Athletic on Thursday and Hansi Flick publicly praised his movement, pressing and goal threat as evidence he can lead the line.
- Barcelona will keep pursuing Julián Álvarez until the transfer window closes but are unwilling to rush for another out‑and‑out striker if the deal stalls.
- Sporting director Deco and Flick have agreed that, absent Álvarez or a clearly superior option, internal solutions like Raphinha are preferable to a panic signing.
- The Athletic match underlined both promise and risk, with Barcelona producing 4.23 expected goals from 22 shots while Athletic keeper Unai Simón made eight saves and the side finished wastefully.
- Other squad options such as Fermín López, Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi are part of the contingency plan, a choice that will shape playing time, tactics and Barcelona’s transfer priorities this window.