Barcelona have been the most dominant force in world football to start the 2024/25 season, placing an exclamation point on their turnaround under Hansi Flick with a 4-1 win over Bayern Munich in an act of Champions League revenge, a 4-0 drubbing of hated rivals Real Madrid, and then a 3-1 derby victory over Espanyol to cap it all off.
The Blaugrana have been steady defensively and hungry and relentlessly offensively, making full use of a high press and somehow an even higher line, with Flick taking opposing managers to school on a weekly basis.
La Blaugrana’s front three is the envy of everyone else in European football, with Robert Lewandowski back to scoring goals at a record pace, Raphinha playing the best football of his life in a free role off the left, and Lamine Yamal entrenching himself as the new face of football.
Although Lewandowski is still one of the world’s best players at any position with 14 goals in 12 La Liga games, Barcelona are keeping one eye to the future and have an interest in signing a truly world-class striker to eventually replace the Polish legend.
Erling Haaland is the dream, but he wouldn’t be available for a few years and may not even want to leave Manchester City, though there is a feeling he’d love to play for a club as historic as Barcelona.
In the more immediate term, Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres has emerged as a target for Barcelona, with Portuguese outlet A Bola actually reporting that Deco has begun transfer negotiations with the Lisbon-based club in order to acquire the Swedish international.
Gyokeres’ stock is at a high, as he has 16 goals in 10 league appearances and 5 goals in 4 Champions League matches, making him one of the most prolific scorers in world football.
The 26-year-old is in his prime and wanted by virtually every top club in Europe, fresh off a Champions League hat trick against title contenders Manchester City. Arsenal and Manchester United, now led by Gyokeres’ former coach Ruben Amorim, are two clubs who are very keen on the Swedish striker.
Barcelona know that they can acquire Gyokeres for 60-70 million euros due to a handshake deal the player has with Sporting to leave for less than his release clause, but the Blaugrana, as they are want to do in their economic situation, are hoping to push the price down further.
Their aim is to utilize Vitor Roque and potentially even the permanent player rights of current Sporting standout Francisco Trincao as makeweights in a Gyokeres transfer.
Roque doesn’t seem to have a long-term future at Barcelona, though he is playing well for Real Betis in his first real La Liga opportunity while on loan this season.
Meanwhile, Trinaco is a highly talented playmaker with three goals and seven assists for Sporting this season, though his permanent rights probably wouldn’t make a serious dent in Gyokeres’, at the lowest, 60 million euro fee.
Barcelona and Deco are doing well to push for Gykoeres, who could be a great fit for the club with his dead-eye finishing and slick movement. It’s just hard to see Roque and Trincao, even combined, chopping off more than half of what Sporting would want.
Plus, in the world of transfers, straight cash is king, homie. (Shoutout to Randy Moss).
