The renewal in Barcelona’s forward line ahead of next season has been much deeper than could initially have been foreseen. Above all, because of the three departures—two confirmed and the last one, which will be made official shortly—that have taken place this summer: Robert Lewandowski, Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres. Three very important players in the past campaign.
The first of them had just seen out his contract with Barcelona and decided to bring his spell at the club to an end. He will play next season in the MLS. In Rashford’s case, Barcelona decided not to exercise the €30 million purchase option they had agreed with Manchester United. And Ferran Torres informed the club a few days ago that his intention was to leave Barcelona and join PSG. The two clubs have already reached an agreement.
Goalscoring stats
They are three very important players, and the data serves as a warning to Hansi Flick. Between the three of them, last season they scored 54 goals: Ferran (21), Lewandowski (19) and Rashford (14). The German coach will have to work hard with his team to make up for a figure that is not at all easy to match. That is a lot of goals Flick will be missing due to the absence of these three players.
Reinforcements
So far, they have signed two footballers: Gordon and Adeyemi. They are not goalscorers. They are two very quick wingers who can score, but they are not expected to reach the numbers of a centre-forward. Between the Premier League and the Champions League, the former scored 16 goals for Newcastle, while the German netted 10 goals for Borussia Dortmund. The latter does not even reach Rashford’s tally.
Julián Alvarez Option
A center forward still needs to be signed. All eyes are on Julián Álvarez, but his scoring numbers are not exactly intimidating either. At Atlético he scored 20 goals last season. He does not reach the 21 that Ferran scored. Therefore, all the players will have to make a great effort to match the goal-scoring figures of those who are no longer here.
False nines
And here players such as Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Olmo and Fermín will also have to help. The first two were the team’s top scorers, with 24 and 21 goals, respectively. Altogether, the four of them scored 68 goals and will have to, at the very least, maintain these scoring figures. It is Flick’s option to play with a false nine if they do not make any signings.
