Lamine Yamal and Pedri showered Barcelona striker target Julián Alvarez with enormous praise, not so subtly expressing their desire for the Argentine to join them in Catalonia next season.
The pair of Barcelona stars are currently focused on helping Spain secure its second World Cup title, but that didn’t stop them from sharing their unfiltered thoughts when asked about the possibility of Alvarez becoming their new club teammate come 2026–27.
“Of course, who doesn’t like him [Alvarez]?” Pedri said, via Sport. “He’s a world-class player. We’ll see what happens with his future...”
Pedri kept it brief. Yamal, on the other hand, gave an even more in-depth response, detailing he believes Alvarez was tailor-made for Barcelona.
“The whole world knows he [Alvarez] is a top player,” Yamal said, via Mundo Deportivo. “On everyone [team] wants to have. I've said it before, we have open arms and if he comes, we'll all be very happy. I think he's a player that fits a lot with Barça's style. I have no idea how the situation is going, but hopefully yes.”
Latest Barcelona Scheme Could Unlock Julian Alvarez Transfer
Barcelona’s initial bid for Alvarez was not only rejected by Atlético Madrid but it even led to series of incredible social media attacks from Los Rojiblancos. Alvarez later made a public plea to leave Atlético Madrid, hinting at his desire to join Barcelona. This resulted in Atléti filing complaints with FIFA and the Spanish soccer federation over Barça’s conduct.
There haven’t been significant new developments as off late, but AS recently reported that Barcelona have solicited a bank credit worth $240 million (€210 million) to further bolster their summer transfer funds.
The Catalans are reportedly close to finalizing a move for Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi, but the bulk of the loan would almost certainly be used to finance the recruitment of a world-class striker like Alvarez, which has been the club’s well-known priority this summer.
Club president Joan Laporta remains keen on Alvarez, and a new push to get Atlético to budge on their rigid stance could ignite once the 2026 World Cup is over.
With Barcelona back within the confines of La Liga’s financial fair play rules for the fist time in four years, this summer is regarded as a key window to reinforce Hansi Flick’s squad, with the Catalans expected to once again struggle to meet the 1:1 rule in a year’s time due to the Camp Nou’s ongoing renovations.
Pedri, Yamal Choose Ideal World Cup Final Opponent
Regardless of how Alvarez’s transfer saga unfolds, there’s a chance he shares the pitch with Pedri and Yamal even before the new season starts, with Spain and Argentina potentially meeting in the 2026 World Cup final.
The pair of Spain stars declared they’d like the possibility of facing Argentina in the final, with the added bonus of getting to face Lionel Messi, something Pedri described as a “dream.”
“That dream would be top because it means we’ve made it to the World Cup final,” Pedri told AS. “I’m enjoying it [what Messi is doing], I was able to enjoy him when I played with him and trained with him every day and it’s crazy. The things he’s doing only he can do, at his age he has more quality than anyone else and for me he’s the best in history.”
Yamal echoed a similar thought, astonished by what Messi has been able to accomplish this summer.
“Incredible,” Yamal said about Messi. “The whole world knows who Messi is but no one expected the really high level he’s performing at. I’m really happy for him. I’m really happy for Neymar and Cristiano [Ronaldo]. They marked the childhood of all of us that are playing now. Everything good that happens to them will be good for me. However, if I make the final, I want to win it.”
For the dream final to materialize, Argentina will have to beat Switzerland and then the winner of England vs. Norway in an eventual semifinal. Spain, meanwhile, must first vanquish Belgium before a blockbuster semifinal bout against France.
