Barcelona begin their title defence of La Liga on Sunday with a trip to Elche. They travel with no senior striker in their squad.After the end of last season, it was decided that Robert Lewandowski’s contract would not be renewed, and he eventually joined MLS side Chicago Fire.Last week, Ferran Torres moved to Paris Saint-Germain for €50million (£42.8m; $58.3m).It leaves the 18-year-old Egyptian Hamza Abdelkarim, who spent the second half of last term with the under-19s, as Flick’s sole recognised ‘No 9’.Barca have been saying all summer that Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez is their only transfer target for the position, but the chances of that coming off are not rated favourably around the club. Atletico’s position is that the Argentina international is not for sale.What can we expect from Barca’s attack this campaign? Have they given up on Alvarez? And what other options do they have?The striker Barcelona should actually signAlexander BarkerHow did we get here?As last season came to an end, Barca’s biggest decision-makers — manager Hansi Flick and sporting director Deco — decided it was time for a big revamp in their front line.They decided to let Lewandowski leave on the expiry of his contract. The Poland international, who turned 38 on Friday, had fulfilled a cycle at Barca and the club wanted a younger player to replace him.Barca identified Alvarez as their top target. The 26-year-old is seen as Flick’s dream striker and Deco got on board with the signing. Alvarez was seen by both of them as a top-tier player, and there was an acknowledgement within the club that there was a limited range of quality options available.Club sources — speaking anonymously, like all those cited here, as they did not have permission to comment — also say they made an informal approach to Chelsea about Joao Pedro early in the transfer window, but they were notified he was not for sale on any terms.Barca said they submitted an offer to Atletico of €100million ($116m; £87m) for Alvarez by the end of May. Atletico denied this was the case and publicly replied to Barca’s interest with a series of social media posts linking them to absurd bids for Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and Raphinha.“Don’t believe everything you see, especially if it’s related to Barca,” one of their messages read.Julian Alvarez has been Barcelona’s No 1 target this transfer window (Eric Alonso/Getty Images)Despite that, Barca maintained their interest in Alvarez, who put more spice into the saga when he was at the World Cup. As Argentina navigated their way through the group stage, Alvarez told ESPN he wanted a transfer.“I can’t hide it,” he said. “I try to be an honest person. I spoke with Atletico Madrid, and a transfer is the best option. I want to fulfill my dream.”Those words increased the optimism within Barcelona, who still had Alvarez as their only target up front, but Atletico did not soften their stance. Their chief executive, Miguel Angel Gil Marin, appeared on the club’s social media channels in July to reaffirm their stance.“We won’t sell him,” Gil Marin said. “Not for €100million, not for €150m, not for €200m”.Atletico also filed a complaint with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and FIFA against Barcelona. The Catalan club said they were notified about the report by the end of July. The RFEF started an internal investigation.This is where pessimism started to grow significantly about their chances of signing Alvarez. The striker returned to training with Atletico last week, and there has been no change to his situation.