Barcelona reportedly had lined up Real Betis forward Loren Moron as a possible signing, but his price-tag could force them to abandon any pursuit.
The Catalan giants have been dealt two major injury blows so far this year as after Luis Suarez underwent knee surgery last month, Ousmane Dembele is set to go under the knife this week after sustaining a hamstring injury.
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In turn, that severely limits coach Quique Setien’s options in the final third, as he will have to rely heavily on Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Ansu Fati across all competitions.
For a club like Barcelona who are looking to compete on multiple fronts for major honours, that is surely simply not enough.
With that in mind, according to Mundo Deportivo, Willian Jose has been linked with a move to the Nou Camp in order to provide them with a crucial additional option in that department.
However, Loren is specifically mentioned as a back-up option, but with Betis said to be likely to demand €25m, Barcelona could opt to end their interest as it’s noted that is too steep a price to pay for them.
The 26-year-old has scored 10 goals and provided three assists in 25 appearances so far this season, and so there is sense behind why Barca would want to sign him.
La Liga regulations will allow the reigning league champions to sign a player outside the window if Dembele is ruled out for a significant period and only if the signing is an individual who is already playing in Spain, as per Marca.
In turn, both Jose and Loren tick the right boxes, but as far as the latter is concerned, the report above would suggest that his valuation from Betis could scupper any hope of a possible move to Barcelona.