Barcelona reportedly have five names in mind as they look to strengthen their attacking options and bring in a long-term replacement for Luis Suarez.
The Uruguayan stalwart turned 32 last month, and although he has respectable tallies of 16 goals and eight assists in 33 appearances in all competitions so far this season, there has undoubtedly been a drop in his numbers.
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While he still has plenty left in the tank, it has to be a concern for coach Ernesto Valverde and the Barcelona hierarchy that they have such a glaring lack of quality depth in that department, both in the short term and long term.
With that in mind, Mundo Deportivo claim that the Catalan giants have identified five transfer targets to provide a solution, with Celta’s Maxi Gomez said to be leading the likes of Luka Jovic, Andre Silva, Nicolas Pepe and Rafael Leao.
That would make sense seeing as though he has the most experience in La Liga and could be capable of making an immediate impact, with the 22-year-old bagging nine goals and five assists in 22 outings so far this season.
However, as added by Mundo Deportivo, he’s said to have a €50m release clause in his current contract with Celta, and so it remains to be seen whether or not that’s a fee that Barcelona can afford and are willing to splash out.
Silva has impressed on his loan spell from AC Milan at Sevilla, while Jovic has made quite the impression on his own loan stint at Eintracht Frankfurt with 19 goals and five assists in 29 games.
In turn, coupled with the fact that they’re all young players in their early 20s, Barcelona’s transfer strategy appears to be pretty clear as they look to bolster their attack and take away some of the pressure on Suarez’s shoulders moving forward.
