Benjamin Sesko is now on FC Barcelona’s striker shortlist if their move for Julian Alvarez falls through. The link matters because Barcelona already rejected the £26 million route they had for Marcus Rashford, yet they are still weighing a far pricier forward search.
Deco has placed Serhou Guirassy, Etta Eyong and Sesko on his list. Barcelona tabled an £87m bid for Alvarez, and Atletico Madrid turned it down.
Julian Alvarez sets the price
The stance from Atletico Madrid is clear enough. They want £130m for Alvarez, after also rejecting a £113m offer from Real Madrid.
That leaves Barcelona working from a fallback plan rather than a clean finish line. Sesko sits in that group, but he is not only on Barcelona’s radar.
Old Trafford shapes the race
Sesko is also a target at Old Trafford, where he would provide competition for Joshua Zirkzee. Manchester United invested a total of £74m to sign Sesko from RB Leipzig last year, so any new move would push Barcelona into a market where another club already views him as part of its own squad planning.
The same transfer thread runs through Marcus Rashford. Hansi Flick was impressed by him and wanted him signed permanently by Barcelona, but they decided against triggering the £26 million buy option after he spent last season on loan in Catalonia and posted 14 goals and 14 assists in all competitions.
Barcelona’s next striker move
That is why Sesko now sits as the contingency name. Barcelona still want Alvarez, but the shortlist shows they are no longer treating the search as a single-player pursuit.
For Barcelona, the practical step is simple: keep Alvarez as the first choice and be ready to move on Sesko if Atletico Madrid hold firm. For Manchester United, the overlap means the same forward could sit inside two separate plans at once, and Marcus Rashford will return to Old Trafford after the World Cup in North America concludes next month.
