Julian Alvarez addresses Barcelona transfer talk as La Liga giants eye Atletico Madrid star as Robert Lewandowski successor

Alvarez left Manchester City last summer in search of regular game time. The 25-year-old started 31 league games for the Cityzens in his final season at the Etihad Stadium, but was frequently dropped when both Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were fit.

While City would have preferred to keep the Argentine hitman, they were willing to sanction his sale, keeping in tune with their willingness to sell players who no longer wish to play for the club.

Leroy Sane was a key man for City following his 2016 arrival from Schalke, yet the Premier League giants were prepared to sell the winger in 2020 when Bayern Munich made their interest in the Germany international known. And City followed a similar path with Alvarez, who was key for the Cityzens as they won the treble in 2023.

Interest in his services last summer was rife, but it was Atletico who won the race to sign Alvarez. And Los Colchoneros face a battle to retain his services with Barcelona heavily linked with a move for the striker.

French publication L'Equipe recently posed the question about a potential move to either PSG or Barcelona, asking Alvarez: "We know that PSG and Barca, who are looking for a successor to Robert Lewandowski, have you in their sights. Do you see yourself playing for either of these two clubs in the coming years?"

Alvarez looked to bat away transfer talk linking him with a move away from Madrid, insisting that he is focused on Atletico. "Do I plan on playing at Barcelona or at PSG? Honestly, I don’t know," the forward responded.

"I see what people say on social media. in Spain, people speak a lot about me and Barcelona. For now, I am focused on Atletico and we will review at the end of the season."

Alvarez also explained his decision to move to Atletico last year while speaking highly of head coach Diego Simeone, adding: "We share the same vision of football: passion, hard work, dedication, that desire to fight against two immense clubs, to never give up, to always believe. On the pitch, he gives me confidence and grants me total freedom: our relationship is very positive."

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Alvarez also confirmed that talks between the player and PSG took place before he decided to move to Atletico. PSG ended up adding to their frontline with the signing of Desire Doue, and strengthened their attack further in January by bringing in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli in January.

The pair were key as PSG secured the Champions League at Inter's expense back in May, but things could have been so different for the French side had they signed Alvarez. And the Argentina international confirmed there were discussions regarding to a move to Paris, stating: "When I signed for Atlético, we spoke a lot about Paris. It’s true. There were discussions between the PSG hierarchy and my agent. They showed interest in signing me, but it didn’t happen."

Barcelona are weighing up their attacking options as they look to the possibility of life after Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker moved to Barcelona in 2022 and transferred his flying Bundesliga form across to La Liga having scored 23 league goals in his debut campaign in Spain.

The 37-year-old enjoyed his best La Liga season to date as Barcelona hitman struck 27 times in their title winning season as Hansi Flick delivered glory at the first time of asking but is not into the final year of his contract in Catalunya.

Lewandowski has also struggled for game time due to injury in 2025-26, and has made just three league starts for the Blaugrana. In that time, the 37-year-old has scored four league goals as Barcelona falter in their title defence.

Flick's side find themselves five points off league leaders Real Madrid ahead of their trip to Celta Vigo on Sunday night. Los Blancos have the chance to open up an eight-point lead over their rivals when they take on Rayo Vallecano earlier in the day.

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