Barcelona Focus on Rodri and Julian Alvarez as Transfer Deadline Approaches

Barcelona have picked their men and refuse to look away. With the window heading into its final stretch, the Catalan club remain locked on to Rodri and Julian Alvarez, convinced both deals can still be dragged over the line before the market shuts.

Inside the club, according to Mundo Deportivo, there is no debate. No Plan B. No parallel shortlist quietly being prepared. Just over two weeks from the deadline, Barcelona are all‑in on two players they see as pillars of Hansi Flick’s new era.

One deal looks within reach. The other is a fight.

Rodri: the deal Barcelona believe they can close

Rodri is the operation Barcelona view as closest to completion, and that belief rests heavily on one factor: the midfielder’s willingness to join Flick’s project.

The Spain international is back at Manchester City after his summer break, but in Barcelona they are convinced his mind is open to a change of scenery and a leading role at Camp Nou. That conviction is driving the club’s optimism, even as the numbers remain a problem.

City want around €80 million. Barcelona are not prepared to hit that figure straight. Their previous offers have already been turned down, and the English champions are waiting for a serious improvement.

So Barcelona are working the margins. The plan is to push the total package towards €70m through bonuses and add-ons, rather than a huge fixed fee. Performance clauses, appearances, trophies – the usual levers – are expected to do the heavy lifting in the proposal.

For now, City hold the stronger financial hand. The player’s future, though, is still open, and Barcelona are reading that uncertainty as their opportunity. Mundo Deportivo report that the club expect the Rodri saga to be resolved – one way or another – by next week. They intend it to end with the midfielder in blaugrana.

Julian Alvarez: player power against Atlético’s wall

If Rodri is the attainable prize, Julian Alvarez is the battle against a brick wall.

Barcelona want him. Alvarez wants Barcelona. Atlético Madrid do not want to play along.

The Argentine forward remains a firm target for Flick, but Atlético have taken a hard line and have not softened it. Their stance has turned this pursuit into a far more complex operation than the Rodri negotiations.

Even so, Barcelona believe the door is not shut. Not while Alvarez keeps pushing from his side.

At 26, the striker is expected to continue forcing the issue in the coming days, still intent on finding a way out of Atlético and into Camp Nou. He has already tried to bring Diego Simeone into the conversation, hoping the coach might help ease his exit. That attempt has not produced the breakthrough he wanted.

The response from Madrid has been firm. The player’s desire has not wavered.

Right now, that desire is Barcelona’s main weapon. There is no clever financial structure that suddenly changes Atlético’s mind; there is only the slow, relentless pressure of a key player insisting he wants something different.

Barcelona are gambling that Alvarez’s determination will, eventually, start to bend the negotiations. Two weeks remain. One club is digging in. Another is refusing to walk away. And between them stands a striker who has made his choice.