Barcelona's pursuit of Julián Álvarez is 'in the past' - Deco

Barcelona sporting director Deco says the club's pursuit of Julián Álvarez is "in the past" after it emerged the Spanish champions would have to raise money through player exits to be able to sign the Atlético Madrid striker in January.

Barça spent the summer trying to sign Álvarez from Atlético, failing with a bid of over €100 million ($113.9m) as their LaLiga rivals refused to engage in any form of negotiations.

Sources told ESPN the door was not completely closed on Álvarez potentially moving to Spotify Camp Nou in the future, but Deco has appeared to close it for now.

"Julián Álvarez is the past," Deco said at the Portugal Football Summit this week.

"Barcelona now have to look forward. It wasn't possible in the end. We made an offer. [Atlético] said they would not transfer him and we had to look for other solutions.

"I hope things go well for him and that he can help his club."

Barça signed Gabriel Jesus from Arsenal late in the summer transfer window after failing to land Álvarez, although it's Raphinha who has stepped up as the team's No.9 so far this season.

Following the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, the Brazil winger has been reconverted into a striker to great effect, scoring 14 goals in eight appearances.

That has lessened the need to sign a new forward in January, especially given Barça treasurer Ferran Olivé has confirmed the club would have to move players on in order to afford Álvarez.

"We can make signings in January because the financial situation is positive now, but we would probably have to sell first," Olivé said.

"That's how the rules work in LaLiga. For someone to come in, others have to leave. We have a small excess [within the league-imposed spending cap] of around €3-4m ($3.4m-4.5m,) which would allow us to do a small deal."

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Asked if Álvarez would be possible, Olivé added that an operation for the Argentina forward "would not fit" at the moment.

Álvarez, 26, has been left in a difficult situation at Átletico after publicly revealing he wanted to leave the club this summer.

That resulted in him being jeered during the home game against Villarreal in August by his own team's supporters.

In total, he has made four appearances for the club this season, starting just one game, after being a regular during his first two campaigns after joining from Manchester City in 2024.