Barcelona's sports management department has already started planning the team's squad for next season. When it comes to the crucial No. 9 position, they currently have three distinct options.
The first option is to extend the contract of veteran Robert Lewandowski. The Polish player's current deal with Barcelona expires next June. If he chooses not to stay, the club will free up significant salary cap space. However, his departure would also mean losing a top-paid prolific striker—though 37 years old, he still maintains high scoring efficiency, with 42 goals last season and 8 so far this season.
The second option is to promote Ferran Torres as the first-choice No. 9. Hansi Flick clearly informed Ferran last summer that he views him as the team's center forward, No. 9, and a benchmark player in the attack. Ferran takes this seriously and is currently having one of his most prolific seasons in terms of goals. Internally, Barcelona's management must decide based on his current performance whether he is the clear No. 9 candidate, which will determine if they abandon the search for other players in the transfer market.
The third option is to sign a top striker. Yet this choice involves a pervasive key factor in the club's daily operations in recent years: financial situation and Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. Currently, the two most attractive targets are Julián Álvarez and Harry Kane. The former can only join Barcelona if the club pays a sky-high transfer fee, but due to its current financial constraints, the management is unsure if it can afford such a cost next summer. It is reported that signing the Argentine forward will exceed €100 million, while the fee for the English player (transferring from Bayern Munich) will be no less than around €65 million.
