Barcelona still await a classic number nine striker despite having all summer to find one, say AS.
Despite spending a small fortune on talent such as Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann, Barcelona still couldn't find a classic number nine to liften the burden off Luis Suárez and to aid their ageing forward line – something AS elude to in their recent report.
The newspaper says the priority of the club back in Spring was to go all out for a typical number nine type striker – and identified Luka Jovic as the most suitable candidate for the position.
However, the Croatian's high wage demands, the difficulty of his former club Eintract Frankfurt in transfer negotiations and the intervention of Madrid meant the deal didn't progress – and ironically he did sign for arch rivals Real Madrid instead his summer.
The report continued by stating that other priorities for Barcelona included a top class midfielder, someone to complement Jordi Alba at left back and a defender with recognised qualities and youth on his side to keep progressing.
In came De Jong, the club brought in Junior Firpo from Real Betis to compete on the left hand side with Alba and Matthijs De Ligt was looked out at length before he confirmed his preference to sign with Italian Serie A Champions Juventus.
Other strikers linked with the Camp Nou outfit were Valencia's Rodrigo Moreno, Celta de Vigo's Maxi Gómez, who signed for Valencia.
Also the name of Marcus Rashford from Manchester United was heavily linked with Barcelona from the English press however none of those deals materialised.
Although Barcelona can count on the fact they brought in Antoine Griezmann, still possess Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Ousmane Dembélé and the new wonder kid on the block in Ansu Fati, the club potentially missed a trick as they still await their classic number nine.
