It’s clear that the Barcelona squad requires plenty of work this Summer, but the situation surrounding their strike force is particularly worrying.
It’s understandable that they want to rely on Lionel Messi, but he’s getting older and needs some help, as age and injuries will eventually catch up if he’s forced to play every single minute.
Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele can’t stay fit, while Antoine Griezmann just hasn’t done well at all. Ansu Fati might be a long term option, but he’s too young to be burdened with that kind of pressure.
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It’s clear that a long term solution is needed for the number 9 role, and it looked like Lautaro Martinez was their prime target this Summer.
There could be a major issue with that, after a report from Goal.com suggested they will face some serious competition for his signature.
They say that Barca and Real Madrid are heavily interested, but the agent has also spoken to other clubs about a Summer transfer, so this could be an issue.
Barca have wasted a lot of money on expensive flops and it appears that finances are an issue at the club, so they might need to sell players first to sign the Inter star, and that delay could allow another team to swoop.
There’s no sign of anyone having an agreement yet and it’s still possible that he could stay at Inter, but Barca might need to move quickly to land their man.