Barcelona enjoyed a busy January transfer window and look set for more transfer activity to strengthen the squad when the window reopens at the end of the 2021-22 season.
A new No. 9 is the club’s top priority and Erling Haaland remains Barca’s preferred option, as reported by Ferdinand Polo at Mundo Deportivo. However, the club also has plenty of other options in mind in case they miss out on Haaland.
Chelsea duo Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner are on Barca’s shortlist and could be available given the current issues at the Premier League side. Russian owner Roman Abramovich has had his assets frozen by the UK government and players are now “fearful about their futures,” as reported by The Guardian.
Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick is also on Barca’s shortlist and has caught the eye this season with his prolific form in the Bundesliga. Only Bayern Munich goal machine Robert Lewandowski has outscored Schick in Germany’s top flight.
The Czech international has scored 20 times in 20 matches for Leverkusen and was also the joint top scorer at last summer’s European Championship. Schick finished on five goals, level with Cristiano Ronaldo
AC Milan youngster Rafael Leao is the fourth name on the shortlist. The 22-year-old tends to play more in a wide position than as a true No. 9, but Polo explains that he is the player the “Barça technical secretariat likes the most.”
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Barcelona Thinking About Lewandowski?
Barcelona are also thinking about a possible move for Lewandowski, who is out of contract at Bayern in 2023 and yet to agree a contract extension with the Bavarian giants.
The Catalan giants are “are alert to the situation” regarding Lewandowski and his contract status but are still aware that “signing him would be complicated,” as reported by Jordi Carne at Diario Sport.
Certainly, Lewandowski will not lack for offers if he does decide to depart the Allianz Arena. The striker may be 33 already but guarantees goals and has 29 in 26 league games so far in 2021-22.
Xavi Talks Barcelona Attack
Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Xavi has spoken about his attack after seeing his side fail to score against Galatasaray in the Europa League. The Catalans had 16 attempts on goal but failed to net in a match for the first time in three months.
Xavi told a press conference on Saturday, March 12 that his staff have already analyzed the game and where his players need to improve in order to be more clinical in front of goal.
“We analyzed it. We need to attack better. The feeling I was left with is we should have attacked better, we need to understand the positions of our midfielders better, our No. 9 shouldn’t have dropped as deep to receive the ball,” he said. “We need to make tactical, positional adjustments. We can also circulate the ball better. We need to be more precise.”
Barca look set for plenty of changes in attack this summer. Ousmane Dembele is out of contract and could leave on a free transfer, Luuk de Jong and Adama Traore’s loan deals are up, while Martin Braithwaite has also been linked with an exit.
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