Who will start as a striker for Barcelona as La Liga title defence begins?
La Liga is almost here. FC Barcelona will take on Elche, and they will do so without their top two #9s from last season. Both Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres have left, and even if Barça were to sign a striker extremely fast, he would not be ready to start by then.
Signs are pointing toward Barcelona starting the season without an established #9. Rumors have linked the Catalan club with many players, but none have signed. Even if one does arrive, it’s unlikely that two will.
One reason for that could be Hamza Abdelkarim. The youngster has gained prominence in the squad and started almost all preseason matches in the center-forward position. He has yet to debut in official matches for Barcelona, but signs are pointing towards him getting a role in the first team squad.
Raphinha started at striker the only time Hamza did not. A winger by trade, Raphinha is nothing if not adaptable, capable of playing on either side or through the middle. He’s not played too much as a striker in his career, although he’s had some matches playing as part of a front two or as a second striker.
Anthony Gordon also got some minutes in the center-forward position during pre-season. He actually played 16 matches for Newcastle United last season, scoring 9 goals and adding one assist. He scored one of those goals against Barcelona in a 2-1 loss for Newcastle. He also played that position in two other UEFA Champions League matches against Barça: a 1-1 draw and an overwhelming 7-2 loss for the English club.
Karim Adeyemi has some experience in the position as well, though he has only featured on the wing for Barcelona so far.
One in-house option that was used a little last season was Dani Olmo. Most memorably, he started the match against Atlético de Madrid last season in a 2-1 win in La Liga.
A couple youngsters from Barcelona Atlètic got minutes as a striker in preseason, too, Òscar Gistau and Shane Kluivert. They’re unlikely to feature much for the first team, at least at first.
