Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images
Barcelona were determined to sign a new striker during the summer, but they failed to do so – with the exception of Gabriel Jesus, who arrives as a rotational option for Hansi Flick. The club had wanted Julian Alvarez, but due to Atletico Madrid making it clear that they would not sell to a direct rival, a deal was ultimately made impossible.
Barcelona considered several alternatives to Alvarez, but in the end, they never said a serious move for anyone other than the Argentine. One player under consideration by sporting director Deco was Mikel Oyarzabal, who was one of Spain’s heroes at the 2026 World Cup, as well as being one of the best forwards in La Liga.
Ultimately, Barcelona never made a serious move to sign Oyarzabal, as confirmed by Real Sociedad sporting director Erik Bretos. As per MD, he told the media this week that the Basque club received no offers during the summer transfer window for their star man.
“What Oyarzabal wants is to be at Real Sociedad. From there the conversation ends. There has been no offer for Mikel because everyone knows that he wants to stay at Real Sociedad, he didn’t want to leave. If he wanted to be on the market, we would have a thousand offers. We understand that we have high-level players who are attractive to many markets. That is why we work on other profiles. We have attractive players and we are grateful to have been able to retain talent. We have had interests, but we have not given rise to it. That is why there have been no offers.”
Oyarzabal unlikely to be future option for Barcelona
As Barcelona found out with Martin Zubimendi three years ago, and with Nico Williams in 2024 and 2025, it is very difficult to convince Basque players to leave their boyhood clubs. If they were to pursue Oyarzabal, it would surely be a similar case. Thus, it would be a surprise if they tried to sign him properly in the future.