Barcelona's Pursuit of Julian Alvarez and Vangelis Pavlidis

Barcelona’s hunt for a new No 9 has a clear priority and a very real problem.

Julian Alvarez sits at the top of Deco’s list. The Argentina international wants the move, Barcelona want him even more, but Atletico Madrid have slammed the door shut – for now.

Barca’s €100m bid rebuffed

AS report that Barcelona have already tested Atletico’s resolve with an offer worth €100 million. Atleti’s response was blunt: no sale. The club are not entertaining bids for a forward tied down in Madrid until 2030, and the resistance has gone beyond the usual transfer posturing.

According to the same report, Atletico have even taken their anger to FIFA, accusing Barcelona of overstepping the mark in their pursuit of Alvarez. From their point of view, the Catalans are pushing too hard for a player who is locked into a long-term contract at the Metropolitano.

So Barca wait. They need a successor to Robert Lewandowski, now at Chicago Fire, and they need him soon. If the Alvarez saga does not break their way in the coming weeks, Deco will have to turn the page.

That is where Vangelis Pavlidis enters the frame.

Pavlidis, the hat-trick that won Barca’s attention

On Deco’s list of alternatives, AS place Pavlidis right near the top. The Greek striker only joined Benfica from AZ Alkmaar in 2024, but he has wasted no time making himself impossible to ignore.

Last season he produced 30 goals and six assists in 53 games across all competitions. Those numbers alone would put him on the radar of any elite club. One particular night, though, burned his name into Barcelona’s memory.

In the Champions League league phase, Pavlidis tore into Barca’s defence with a first-half hat-trick inside 30 minutes. Benfica still lost that wild game 5-4, but for the Catalans, the damage was done. They had just been shredded by a centre-forward who pressed relentlessly, finished ruthlessly and played with the swagger of someone who believed he belonged at this level.

Since then, the Greek has only sharpened his edge.

From Bochum hopeful to Benfica spearhead

Pavlidis’s route to the top has not been a straight line. At 16, he left Greece chasing a Bundesliga dream, joining VfL Bochum’s youth system. The breakthrough never came. Bochum loaned him to Borussia Dortmund II, then shipped him out again to Willem II in the Netherlands.

That second move changed everything.

In the Eredivisie, Pavlidis finally found his stage. Willem II took him on permanently after his loan, and his form there – intelligent movement, penalty-box instinct, a knack for finding space – drew AZ Alkmaar’s attention. In 2021, AZ paid just €2.5 million for him, a fee that now looks like one of the bargains of recent years for a full Greece international.

From there, the climb accelerated. Goals in Alkmaar, a transfer to Benfica, and now a place on Barcelona’s shortlist.

Benfica’s stance: hands off

There is, however, a familiar obstacle. Just as Atletico refuse to let Alvarez go, Benfica are in no mood to lose their main striker.

Pavlidis is under contract in Lisbon until 2029. AS report that there is little appetite at the club to cash in, especially now. New coach Marco Silva, who replaced Jose Mourinho after the Portuguese coach’s move to Real Madrid, has already made it clear internally how central Pavlidis is to his plans.

The forward underlined that point emphatically on Thursday night.

Needing a response after a 2-1 defeat to St. Gallen in Switzerland in the first leg of their Europa League second qualifying round tie, Benfica turned to their No 9. Pavlidis delivered four times. He scored the first four goals in a 5-0 win, single-handedly flipping the tie and driving Benfica into the third qualifying round.

It was the kind of performance that strengthens a manager’s conviction and a board’s resistance. Take him out of this team now? On this form? The answer in Lisbon is obvious.

Next up for Benfica are Heart of Midlothian. For Pavlidis, that is another chance to push his reputation higher. For Barcelona, watching from a distance, the question grows sharper: if Alvarez cannot be prised from Atletico, how hard are they willing to fight Benfica for the Greek who just will not stop scoring?