Barcelona Pursue Rodri and Julian Alvarez as Transfer Window Closes

Barcelona are not blinking. With just over two weeks left in the summer window, the club remain locked on to two names – Rodri and Julian Alvarez – and, for now, refuse to look anywhere else.

According to Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan board see both operations as alive and achievable, even if they are moving at very different speeds.

Rodri: the deal they believe is within reach

Inside the club, Rodri is viewed as the transfer that should fall first. Barcelona’s optimism stems from one key factor: the midfielder’s desire to join Hansi Flick’s project.

Rodri has already reported back to Manchester City after his summer break, but that has not cooled Barcelona’s belief that he wants the move to Camp Nou. The sporting side is clear. The problem is the price.

City are holding out for a package worth around €80 million. Barcelona are not prepared to go that high in fixed money. Their plan is to push the total value through bonuses and add-ons, edging the proposal towards €70m while keeping the guaranteed outlay lower.

City have already turned down previous approaches and are waiting for a significantly improved offer. The player’s future, though, is still not settled, and that uncertainty is precisely what Barcelona are trying to exploit.

Inside the offices, there is a quiet conviction: if the numbers can be massaged into something workable, Rodri will choose them. Mundo Deportivo report that Barcelona expect the operation to move quickly now, with the aim of closing it no later than next week.

That is the internal deadline. Hit it, and Flick gets his midfield anchor. Miss it, and the entire late-window strategy starts to wobble.

Julian Alvarez: a harder wall to break

If Rodri is the deal they think they can land, Julian Alvarez is the one they are trying to prise open by force of will.

The problem has a name: Atletico Madrid. The club have taken a hard line over the Argentine forward, making negotiations far more complex than those with Manchester City.

Barcelona, though, are clinging to one crucial detail – Alvarez has not let go of his wish to wear the Blaugrana shirt. At 26, he sees this as a move worth fighting for and is expected to keep pushing for an exit in the coming days.

He has already tried to involve Diego Simeone in smoothing his way out, but that attempt has not produced the outcome he wanted. Atletico’s stance remains firm. The door is not open.

Even so, Barcelona are betting on the power of the player. If Alvarez continues to insist on leaving, if he keeps pressing for Camp Nou as his preferred destination, the club believe the pressure could eventually force a shift in Atletico’s position.

It is a gamble built on resolve rather than numbers. Rodri is an operation of figures and structure; Alvarez is an operation of will.

Two targets, two battles, one clear message from Barcelona as the clock ticks down: they are all-in on these names. Now the question is whether the players’ desire can bend two stubborn negotiating tables before the window slams shut.