Lewandowski in action for Barcelona
Barcelona’s potential striker options for summer 2026 seem to become more intriguing by the week.
Robert Lewandowski’s contract is winding down and, as a result, considerations are being made towards how they set up in attack for next season.
Early planning is underway, and Harry Kane and Erling Haaland have been mentioned, with Dusan Vlahovic also being considered a potential free agent. Now, Julian Alvarez and Serhou Guirassy are being linked.
As a long-term option, Haaland is indeed the dream. But there is also a very real possibility that Barca can not sign him next summer and need a bridge between losing Lewandowski and signing the super Norwegian.
Kane fits that mould if he decides to leave Bayern Munich, but first, he needs to discuss his future with the German club. His form is red-hot at the moment - even declaring his last game against Borussia Dortmund to be one of the best of his entire career.
With that in mind, he may opt to stay, and so the considerations around Juventus forward Vlahovic, Alvarez of Atletico Madrid and Guirassy of BVB are intriguing.
Alvarez is difficult to see because of the finances involved.
The Argentina international forward moved to Atletico from Manchester City in 2024 for 382million and that valuation has not dropped since his move.
Vlahovic would be a free transfer as his contract winds down, but there would still be big contractual commitments as well as a decision to be made on whether he can be trusted as a goal source, given his topsy-turvy time at Juve.
The Guirassy option becomes particularly interesting from a financial perspective and quality standpoint, because word out of Germany is that he could be captured in the summer on a great value deal.
He is expected to be able to leave the club next summer for a fixed transfer fee of €50 million - around 343m - for certain, elite clubs.
Barca are one of those listed and, as such, his goalscoring ability and ambitions to test himself at a higher level could yet see an intriguing switch begin to open up.
In the immediate future, Barca will focus on extending a key contract. The future of Ferran Torres is one of the items on the agenda, and they want to tie him up beyond 2027 instead of making signings in attack this January.
But there does seem little chance right now of Lewandowski renewing his deal over the course of this season and, with that in mind, the club are starting to seriously consider what comes next.
