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Transfers

Do Barça actually need a striker?

By Arham Naeem 24 Jul 2026 6 min read

Every summer the same conversation returns, and every summer it starts in the wrong place. Before asking who to sign, it is worth asking whether the thing everyone agrees on is actually true.

The number that starts the argument

The goals dried up in spring, and a dry spring is usually blamed on the man at the end of the move. But the end of the move is rarely where a move goes wrong.

A striker converts the chances a team creates. He does not, on his own, create the conditions that make chances exist.

Where the chances went

Look at the build-up instead of the finish and a different story appears. This is a piece about reading the whole sequence rather than the last touch.

Arham Naeem writes on FC Barcelona for Blaugrana. Spot something he missed? That is half the fun.

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