Barcelona Eyes Vangelis Pavlidis as Striker Search Stalls
Barcelona’s hunt for a new No. 9 has run into one brick wall after another. Now, with primary targets blocked off, a familiar face – and a painful memory – has moved into view: Vangelis Pavlidis.
According to Cadena SER, the Benfica forward has been identified by the Catalan club as a serious option to reinforce their attack, as negotiations for their preferred names stall and patience thins inside the sporting department.
Alvarez and Kroupi deals stuck in neutral
Barcelona set out this summer with a clear idea: secure a high-profile centre-forward to lead the line for years to come. The name at the top of the list was Julian Alvarez.
The problem? Atletico Madrid have no intention of playing along.
The Spanish club have flatly rejected Barcelona’s early approaches and insist the Argentine is not for sale. No softening of the stance, no hint of compromise. For now, Alvarez is locked behind a closed door.
Just as Barcelona looked to pivot, they hit the same resistance in England. Eli Junior Kroupi, the 20-year-old Bournemouth talent earmarked as an alternative, has been declared untouchable by the Premier League side. Bournemouth are refusing to even sit at the table for a summer move.
Two plans, two dead ends. The market rarely waits for anyone.
Pavlidis: from tormentor to target
So Barcelona have turned their gaze to a striker who has already hurt them badly on a Champions League night they will not forget.
Vangelis Pavlidis, 27, offers something very different to the raw promise of Kroupi. He is seasoned, battle-tested, and coming off the best year of his career with SL Benfica.
In the 2025/26 campaign, the Greek international finished as the top scorer in the Primeira Liga, hitting 22 goals in 33 league matches. Across all competitions, he amassed 30 goals in 53 appearances – the kind of sustained production that gets circled on recruitment whiteboards.
And in Barcelona’s case, his audition came at their expense.
In January 2025 at the Estádio da Luz, Pavlidis tore through the Blaugrana defence in a chaotic Champions League group-stage epic. He scored a first-half hat-trick in just 30 minutes, bullying the backline in a 5-4 thriller that left Barcelona shell-shocked and Benfica euphoric.
That treble stands as the third-fastest hat-trick from the start of a match in Champions League history. It also stands as a vivid warning – and perhaps a temptation – for the Camp Nou hierarchy. They have seen, up close, exactly what he can do on a big night.
A realistic option, but still Plan C
Pavlidis ticks several boxes Barcelona now value more than ever: proven scoring record, European experience, and, crucially, a profile that might be more attainable in a tight, complicated market.
He is older than Kroupi, less glamorous than Alvarez, but he is available in a way those two currently are not. For a club wrestling with financial constraints and negotiating fatigue, that matters.
Yet inside Barcelona, the order of preference has not changed. Alvarez remains the priority. The club continues to keep its focus there, hoping Atletico’s stance might crack or circumstances shift.
Until that happens, though, Pavlidis will linger in the background – the striker who once dismantled Barcelona and now waits to see if that ruthless night in Lisbon has earned him a permanent place in their plans.
