Barcelona head coach Xavi has revealed that he was keen on bringing Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata to Camp Nou.
For the past one-and-a-half seasons, the Blaugrana line has been led by Robert Lewandowski, who topped the La Liga scoring charts with 23 strikes en route to the top-flight title last season.
The former Bayern Munich man has already managed a respectable seven goals in the current top-flight campaign, although four players have netted more, including 11-goal leader Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid.
With a total of 27 strikes from 14 matches so far, Barcelona are the lowest scorers inside the top five of the La Liga table and have a seven-point gap to make up to Real Madrid and Girona.
Xavi's side did strengthen their attack over the summer with the loan capture of Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid, while Raphinha, Ferran Torres and 16-year-old Lamine Yamal are alternative options in the final third.
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However, Lewandowski is the only out-and-out senior centre-forward at the club, and speaking to reporters at a recent press conference, Xavi revealed that conversations were held with Morata.
The Barca boss waxed lyrical about Morata's individual qualities and "world-class" connection with Antoine Griezmann, but he conceded that a summer transfer was not feasible.
"It's true that I wanted to sign him. There was that possibility. I was talking to him and I wanted him in the team, but it couldn't happen," Goal quotes Xavi as saying.
"He's a forward that I really like. Morata is a great forward. He is a generous footballer, who works a lot for the team, he works a lot.
"He goes very well into spaces and helps his teams a lot. I really like him a lot. With him and with [Antoine] Griezmann, Atletico has a world-class forward line."
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The well-travelled Morata has struggled to settle at various clubs throughout his career, enduring mixed spells with Real Madrid and Chelsea, who sent him on loan to Atletico for 18 months in 2019.
The 31-year-old's switch to Wanda Metropolitano was made permanent for £30m that same summer, but he was loaned back out to Juventus for two years and missed the majority of Atletico's 2020-21 La Liga title triumph.
However, Morata amassed a respectable 15 goals in all tournaments for Diego Simeone's team last season and has begun the 2023-24 campaign strongly with 12 goals and three assists from 17 matches.
The Spain international has come up with a joint-high five goals in this season's Champions League, level with Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund, and his total for Atletico now stands at 49 goals and 12 assists from 123 games.
Morata's contract with Atletico runs until the summer of 2026, and the striker will pit his wits against Barcelona in Sunday's blockbuster La Liga clash at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
Ben Knapton
