Flick reportedly chose Raphinha as his centre-forward after none of the Argentine number nines he had targeted joined the team. A month and a half into the competition, this fallback option — perhaps even a third choice — appears to be working better than the original plan, according to the assessment in the article.
Julián Álvarez was a major name in the summer transfer window for the club, with the aim of filling the gap left by Lewandowski. But the Argentine did not arrive, and neither did Lautaro Martínez. After the opening rounds of Liga and the Champions League, Raphinha’s performances and goals have been far superior to Julián Álvarez’s, the article notes, while acknowledging that making such a comparison at this stage may be premature.
The early arrivals of Gordon and Adeyemi could suggest that Flick was already considering moving Raphinha into the centre of the attack, even as the club pushed throughout the summer to sign Julián Álvarez. That does not reveal what might have happened had the transfer gone through: the Argentine’s place in the starting side, Raphinha’s goals from the left, or the playing time for Gordon and Adeyemi could all have been different.
The question remains: what might the team have looked like if the club had signed Julián Álvarez? Any answer is speculation, although the article considers it difficult to imagine his early performances matching Raphinha’s. Nico Williams offers a precedent from two years ago: the headlines devoted to Julián Álvarez this summer had then been devoted to the Athletic player. His arrival had been treated as a certainty, with a front three alongside Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski, while Raphinha appeared at risk of losing his place and a move to Arabia was being considered. Nico did not arrive; Raphinha stayed after speaking with Flick, and his performances subsequently surpassed expectations. The article also points to social media, where debates are now amplified and exaggerated.
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