Barcelona have a major question to answer this summer: who should be their long-term central striker?

Robert Lewandowski is widely expected to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season. The 37-year-old Poland international has been a consistent goalscorer for Barca since joining from Bayern Munich in 2022, with 115 goals in 179 appearances. Who can step up to fill those boots?

As we will see, there are internal options and targets elsewhere. But, as always, those need to be weighed against Barca’s financial limitations and who they can actually afford.

Here, The Athletic explains their search for a No 9 — informed by recent conversations with various well-placed sources, who each asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships.

Why don’t they want to keep Lewandowski?

Barca’s plan is to let Lewandowski go at the end of this season, but it is far from a closed case. Club executives want to see how players perform over the rest of the season and make a final decision then.

Lewandowski turns 38 in August and Barcelona have enjoyed four great seasons from the Polish striker, but it is entirely reasonable to think other players need to take over from the veteran in the long term — particularly with his contract ending.

He has been involved less this season, with 11 of his 22 La Liga appearances coming from the bench. Barca saw the 25-year-old Ferran Torres as a profile likely to play a bigger role in the club’s future, and wanted to give the ex-Manchester City man more game time as a central striker to ease that succession plan.

But Torres, under contract until 2027, has not exactly set the world alight with his recent performances. Since the autumn, Barca’s recruitment team have had it clear in their mind that they would like to strengthen the attack.

Who have Barcelona got in mind?

The standout name at the top of sporting director Deco’s wishlist is still Atletico Madrid’s Argentina striker Julian Alvarez.

Barcelona senior executives believe the pool of top-class forwards is limited, but that they need to address the position this summer. Those sources say the strikers Barca have monitored have been separated into different tiers of quality, or how proven they are at elite level.

Alvarez is in the top tier along with Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane. But the England captain is an unlikely option. Kane had a €65million (£56.5m; $75.6m) release clause in his contract which had to be activated before the end of January, but this will no longer apply this summer. Deco is not a big advocate of spending big sums on players over the age of 30, which would be the case with the 32-year-old Kane.

Alvarez in action for Atletico against Barcelona on Tuesday night (Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Those behind the scenes assume that Barca will try to sign Alvarez, and the Catalans believe the 26-year-old is keen on the prospect of joining them. Club sources are also confident Barca will be in a financial position to make a reasonable offer to Atletico.

However, Atletico are not in a position where they will feel like they need to sell. He is under contract until 2030, has been a regular in Diego Simeone’s side this term, and has an estimated market value of €112-130million, according to the CIES Football Observatory.

Despite the fact Alvarez is not going through his best season, having only scored one La Liga goal since November last year, Barcelona’s senior decision-makers are still admirers of his skill set, especially his relentless pressing and ability to drop off and play between the lines.

No concrete moves have been made yet, and Atletico could still easily outprice Barca with their demands, which would make the La Liga champions shift their attention to other profiles.

Barca have more names below their ‘top tier’ candidates. That includes players such as Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen and Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush, both 27. They are just two of a long list of players being monitored — and again, no further steps have been taken in terms of discussing a move.

What about other options within the side?

The obvious answer is Torres. The Spain international is an influential voice within the dressing room and has his peak years ahead of him. But is he good enough to be Barcelona’s undisputed No 9?

His recent form does not help his case. He has scored 16 times in 35 games this season, but only once in La Liga since the start of 2026. Across all competitions, he has scored three goals in his past 18 appearances for the club and, on Tuesday night, manager Hansi Flick decided to take him off in the 64th minute of a Copa del Rey semi-final second leg in which Barca desperately needed goals. 

Torres also finds himself at a crucial juncture in terms of his contract situation. Now into the final 15 months of his deal, he is the only core member of Barca’s team whose long-term future is not tied down. The club have yet to offer him a renewal.

Barca sources also believe that Dani Olmo could operate as a false No 9. They say this is one of the ideas they had in mind when they signed the Spain international from RB Leipzig in 2024.

The 27-year-old has not played there this season, although this is probably because Flick has had no option but to play him in other positions. The injury crisis his team have suffered has meant Olmo has been needed in central midfield and on the left wing. Flick has shown no great urgency to use him as a central striker.

You could also point to Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford being a player with the potential to perform as a No 9, but Flick does not see this as his best position. There are no obvious prospects in La Masia, the club’s youth academy, in that role.

What does it mean for Rashford?

As The Athletic reported last week, Barcelona have held positive talks with Rashford’s camp about making his loan move permanent in the summer.

The club’s search for a new No 9 does not impact that. Flick is keen on having five first-team forwards at his disposal, as Barca have had this season, to have enough depth up front.

Rashford is also seen as a wide forward rather than a No 9 by the coaching staff, and Barca want to seal the 28-year-old’s arrival regardless of the situation at centre-forward.

Last week, Barca sources indicated they intend to pay the €30million buy option included in the loan deal agreed with Manchester United last summer by paying three €10m instalments over three years.

Are elections slowing things down?

Yes, at least partly. Barcelona’s presidential elections will be held on March 15, with Joan Laporta up for re-election and the favourite to win the vote.

Club sources say they do not want to make definitive decisions until there is clarity over who will be the new president. The process has not stopped Deco from holding preliminary talks with Rashford’s camp to discuss terms, for instance, but they have not yet progressed further.

If Laporta wins, Deco will stay and the existing sporting plan will remain in place. But the two other remaining candidates — fintech entrepreneur Victor Font, who came second to Laporta in 2021, and financial advisor Marc Ciria — have both confirmed they would work with another sporting director.

What can Barca afford?

That is not fully clear, but Barca executives have said they are confident they will be in a better position than previous transfer windows.

“We are €12million away from entering the 1:1 rule in La Liga’s salary limit,” Barca treasurer Ferran Olive told Cronica Global last week. “Barca are in a condition to sign a top striker next summer. In fact, I can say the club is actively looking for it.”

The “1:1 rule” refers to Barcelona being able to spend every euro they offload in salaries to register new signings — a position they have not enjoyed in the past two transfer windows.

This week, La Liga published its updated salary limits after the January transfer window, with Barcelona’s increased by €80million. The Catalans are now allowed to spend €433m on salaries, while last summer their limit was €351m.

La Liga calculates each club’s salary limit according to their revenue. Over the 2024-25 campaign, Barca’s total wage bill was €510m, so they may well still have work to do on that front.