Barcelona's Pursuit of Rodri and Julián Álvarez Amid Araujo's Departure

Barcelona’s summer rebuild has hit its decisive stretch, and Deco has chosen speed over caution. The sporting director is trying to close two blockbuster deals from Manchester City within 48 hours, while simultaneously hunting for a centre-back good enough to replace Ronald Araujo, now bound for Liverpool.

According to Catalan outlet Sport, the plan is bold and simple: land Rodri and Julián Álvarez, then lock down an elite defender before the window shuts in three weeks.

Rodri and Álvarez: the City raid

Deco’s priority is Spain midfielder Rodri. Barcelona want the Manchester City linchpin signed by Wednesday at the latest, a statement move aimed at reshaping the spine of the team before a ball is kicked in the new season.

Running parallel to that, negotiations for Argentina forward Julián Álvarez are on a tighter clock. The club hope to finalise that deal within the next 48 hours, seeing him as a versatile attacking weapon who can shift across the frontline and ease the burden on the existing forwards.

It is an aggressive double swoop, the kind that defines a summer. If Barcelona pull it off, Hansi Flick walks into the season with two Champions League winners dropped straight into his dressing room.

Araujo out, centre-back hunt on

The green light for a new centre-back only came once Araujo’s departure to Liverpool was confirmed. With that, the last line of defence became a priority, not a luxury.

Talks are already underway with several candidates. The timeline is tight: Barcelona want the defensive puzzle solved by the end of the month, giving Flick at least some time to work with his final group before the window closes.

For now, the centre-back department reads: Pau Cubarsí, Gerard Martin, Andreas Christensen and Eric Garcia. Flick is keen to use Eric Garcia primarily as a left-back, a tactical complement to Jules Koundé on the opposite side, which only deepens the need for a top-level central defender.

Inside the club, there is one fallback. Academy product Álvaro Cortés remains on the table as an internal solution. But that would be a last resort. The message from the sporting department is clear: Cortés will only be promoted as the main answer if no genuinely attractive option appears in the market.

Cristian Romero: first choice, hardest deal

At the top of Barcelona’s defensive shortlist sits Cristian Romero. The Tottenham and Argentina defender is the preferred option, the profile that best fits the club’s demand for an aggressive, dominant centre-back.

The road to signing him, though, is anything but straightforward.

Sources in Argentina currently rule out an agreement, pointing to a crowded market around the player. Romero has offers from Arsenal and Inter Milan, while negotiations with Atletico Madrid are described as very advanced. Tottenham, for their part, have set a clear stance: they want just over €40 million and will not entertain a loan.

Money is the main obstacle. Barcelona’s financial constraints make that fee heavy, and the London club’s refusal to open the door to a temporary move only complicates things further.

Romero’s preference leans towards Barcelona, and his camp has been fully briefed on which players could be moved on to make space. Yet, despite that, no concrete step has been taken. Every day that passes risks pushing Barcelona further back in the queue.

Laporte: tempting profile, tangled politics

Aymeric Laporte is the other serious name on the table. The Spain international, now at Athletic Bilbao, has been strongly proposed inside the club as an experienced, left-footed option who knows La Liga and can slot in immediately.

His agents insist that the release clause in his contract is relatively low. Athletic Bilbao flatly deny that. That dispute alone is enough to make Barcelona wary.

The relationship between the two clubs is already strained after last summer’s attempt to sign Nico Williams. Nobody at Barcelona is keen to trigger another war with the Basque side over a clause that isn’t clearly defined.

If the situation around Laporte becomes transparent — if a firm price emerges and the conditions are straightforward — Barcelona could move and lodge an official offer. Right now, though, all signs point to a negotiation loaded with potential complications, exactly what Deco is trying to avoid in a window that demands clarity and speed.

Flick and Deco draw a hard line

As the clock ticks down, offers continue to flood in. Many come from Premier League clubs ready to offload players on late-window loans, hoping to shift salaries and squad numbers.

Barcelona are listening, but not bending.

Flick and Deco have agreed on strict criteria for any signing. The player must arrive on terms that make sense financially, and he must be good enough to fight for a starting place immediately. No stop-gaps, no short-term patches just to fill a shirt.

Barcelona are trying to rebuild a team and a hierarchy in one frantic month. Rodri, Julián Álvarez, Romero, Laporte — big names, big decisions. The question now is not whether they are ambitious enough, but whether they can move quickly and cleanly enough to turn this plan into a squad that can actually compete.