Barcelona Eyes Man United's New Striker as Lewandowski's Potential Successor
Robert Lewandowski has just completed a remarkable 40-goal campaign and is anticipated to lead Barcelona's offensive line once more in the 2025–26 season. Nevertheless, the Polish striker continues to age and the Catalan club is already developing plans for his eventual replacement.
Among the candidates Barcelona had reportedly been evaluating was Slovenian forward Benjamin Šeško. Unfortunately, Barcelona's challenging financial circumstances left them unable to prevent Manchester United from securing Šeško's services from RB Leipzig during this transfer period.
As reported by SPORT, Barcelona's sporting director Deco held the 22-year-old Šeško in high regard and viewed him as a potential successor to Lewandowski when the experienced striker's deal concludes next summer. While Barcelona understood that Šeško would likely depart Germany during this transfer window, the club was disappointed by his move to English football, according to the source.
Barcelona finds itself unable to match the financial power of Premier League giants in today's transfer market. Regarding Šeško's situation, a competitive bidding process between United and Newcastle United concluded with Leipzig accepting an offer worth €76.5 million ($89.1 million), plus an additional €8.5 million in performance-related bonuses.
For context, Barcelona invested under €30 million ($35.1 million) in transfer expenditures this summer and continues to face challenges registering their new signings. Essentially, Barcelona's sole opportunity was for Šeško to stay at Leipzig for an additional season, with hopes that their financial circumstances would improve by 2026.
Additional candidates exist on Barcelona's target list, with Atlético Madrid's Julián Alvarez being broadly regarded as the ideal acquisition to succeed Lewandowski.
However, Barcelona may face similar economic limitations again next summer. This situation could force Barça to consider activating Marcus Rashford's €30 million ($35.1 million) purchase clause if they cannot secure another high-profile striker.
Paradoxically, should this scenario unfold, United, the club that prevented Barcelona from acquiring Šeško, would also benefit financially from Rashford's departure.