Barcelona Targets Rodri and Julián Álvarez Amid Araujo Departure

Barcelona’s summer rebuild has hit its crunch point. With Ronald Araujo on his way to Liverpool, the club has moved into an aggressive, 48-hour sprint to reshape both midfield and attack while scrambling to secure an elite centre-back.

According to Catalan outlet Sport, sporting director Deco wants two huge deals tied up by Wednesday at the latest: Spain international Rodri and Argentina forward Julián Álvarez, both from Manchester City. It is an audacious double move, the kind of statement that would instantly change the face of Hansi Flick’s first Barça squad.

The timing is ruthless. The new season is looming, the window closes in three weeks, and Araujo’s departure has ripped a hole straight through the spine of the defence.

Green light at the back

With Araujo bound for Anfield, Deco has formally opened the door to a big-name centre-back signing. Talks are already under way with several candidates as Barcelona race the calendar.

The plan is clear: complete the defensive line with one major reinforcement before the end of the month. Inside the club, academy product Álvaro Cortés is being kept in reserve as an internal solution. He is a live option, but only if the market fails to deliver a genuinely top-level opportunity.

As it stands, Barça will start the season with Pau Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Andreas Christensen and Eric García as their central defensive core. Flick, though, has a twist in mind. He is keen to use Eric García at left-back, an alternative on that flank to Jules Koundé, which only sharpens the need for another centre-half.

Romero: the preferred but pricey target

At the top of Barcelona’s wishlist sits Cristian Romero. The Tottenham and Argentina defender is the profile they want: aggressive, proven in the Premier League, and comfortable on the biggest stage.

Landing him is another story.

Sources in Argentina insist there is no agreement in place. Romero is not short of admirers either, with Arsenal and Inter Milan on the table and negotiations with Atlético Madrid described as very advanced.

The stumbling block is money. Tottenham are asking for a little over €40 million and have shut the door firmly on any loan arrangement. For a Barça still walking a financial tightrope, that fee is significant.

Romero, for his part, is understood to favour a move to Barcelona. His camp has been fully briefed on which players could leave the club to make space. Yet despite that mutual interest, no decisive step has been taken. Every day that passes risks pushing Barça further back in the queue.

Laporte: opportunity or minefield?

Aymeric Laporte is the other heavyweight name on the table. Now at Athletic Bilbao, the Spain international has been strongly proposed as an option, with his agents insisting his release clause is relatively low.

Athletic see it differently. The Basque club categorically deny any such bargain exit, and that alone makes Barcelona wary.

Relations between the two clubs are already strained after Barça’s push to sign Nico Williams last summer. Another complicated negotiation, this time over Laporte, is not an appealing prospect at board level.

If a clear, clean route to Laporte emerges — a defined price, a straightforward clause — Barcelona could move quickly with an official offer. Right now, though, the landscape suggests a deal full of obstacles and political tension.

No room for passengers

While Deco works the phones on the centre-back front, the market is flooding Barcelona with alternatives. Premier League clubs in particular are offering players on loan as the window’s final weeks approach.

Flick and Deco are standing firm.

They have set strict criteria for any signing: the numbers must work, and the player must arrive ready to fight immediately for a starting place. No stopgaps, no vanity signings, no expensive passengers.

If the next 48 hours deliver Rodri and Julián Álvarez, and the right defender follows before the window shuts, Flick will walk into the season with a squad built in his image.

If not, Barcelona may find themselves chasing Europe’s elite with a back line held together by potential, improvisation and hope.