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Should Barcelona keep Paco Alcacer?

By Benjamin Barkworth

Barcelona's Spanish forward Paco Alcacer (R) scores a goal beside Celta Vigo's Danish midfielder Daniel Wass (C) and Barcelona's Brazilian midfielder Paulinho during the Spanish league football match between Celta de Vigo and FC Barcelona at the Balaidos stadium in Vigo, on April 17, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL RIOPA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images)
Barcelona's Spanish forward Paco Alcacer (R) scores a goal beside Celta Vigo's Danish midfielder Daniel Wass (C) and Barcelona's Brazilian midfielder Paulinho during the Spanish league football match between Celta de Vigo and FC Barcelona at the Balaidos stadium in Vigo, on April 17, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL RIOPA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Paco Alcacer has been linked with a move away after being used as a squad player during his time at the club.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Alcacer has been told that he is no longer needed. However, he wants to stay at the club based on the same report. He joined the club in the 2016 summer transfer window for €30 million. The club needed a back-up striker and he was seen as the right mix in character and quality to fill that role.

Based on silverware, his time at the club has been successful because he has one league title and two Copa del Reys. However, he has only made 50 appearances with most of them being as a substitute. This season he has been involved in 19 games in the Champions League and La Liga for a total of 790 minutes. He scored five goals in those games, so he has averaged a goal every 158 minutes as well as providing three assists.

These goals were important because he scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Sevilla as well as the second goal in the 2-2 draw against Celta Vigo. Therefore, he directly gave the team four points. He also scored the openers against Sporting and Athletic Bilbao while assisting the other goal against Celta Vigo. This shows that he is making an impact, but all his goals did come as a starter. They can’t really ask more from a back-up striker because it isn’t financially feasible to have another world-class striker in the team.

Antoine Griezmann could be joining in the summer, but Luis Suarez is likely to be the one to lose out if that happens. Alcacer could fill a similar role if these personnel changes happened next season with Griezmann having the versatility to play a creative role as well.

Is this the right move by the club?

Incomings are highly likely this summer and they will only add to a stretched wage budget. Therefore, it makes sense that the club would clear out some of the periphery players that they don’t need. However, Alcacer can still fill a key role in this team. There are other players that can be sold to ease the pressure on the wage budget such as Andre Gomes and Aleix Vidal.

He showed during this season that he is a more than capable goalscorer. Most importantly, he works hard at working in a collective pressing shape as well as chasing loose balls down and generally putting pressure on the opposition defence. The lack of consistent playing time doesn’t seem to affect his sharpness in front of goal.

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They will need a back-up striker regardless of who they bring in during the summer and he fills that role well. The long-term plan should be to bring through a La Masia player for this role such as Marc Cardona or Abel Ruiz. He could be gradually transitioned into the first-team next season. Once he is ready for the role, Alcacer could be sold on. They could even make a profit on him if he keeps developing and shows signs of improvement because he is only 24-years-old. However, his value has dropped in his time at the club.

Munir is due to return after being on loan at Alaves for the season. Alcacer has shown himself to be the more effective back-up striker, though, so Munir should be sold on. Therefore, letting Alcacer go this summer will be a mistake.