Barcelona among four teams chasing Hirving Lozano
The Mexican winger is attracting interest from across Europe after an excellent World Cup and a strong start to the season.
Hirving Lozano only moved to PSV Eindhoven from Pachuca in the 2017 summer transfer window, but he has already been linked with major teams across Europe after a stunning first season in Europe. He helped his side win the Eredivisie with 17 goals and eight assists in 2350 league minutes to add to the Liga MX Clausura and CONCACAF Champions League he won in Mexico.
The World Cup was his best chance of showing off his talent to a wider audience, though, because the Eredivisie isn’t as prominent as it once used to be. He certainly took this opportunity because he scored on his debut in the tournament with the winner against Germany as well as providing an assist in the 2-1 win over South Korea. However, he wasn’t able to have much of an impact in the losses to Sweden and Brazil, which meant El Tri exited in the Round of 16 for the seventh consecutive time.
According to AS, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United are all in contact with his representatives while Atletico Madrid have joined the race to sign him. Therefore, he certainly did enough in the summer to impress some of the top teams in Europe by showing he can play at the top level. He reportedly has a €40 million release clause, which is cheap considering his ability and potential.
Lozano already has two goals and an assist in the league as well as two goals in the Champions League qualification stages, so he looks to be continuing from where he left off last season. This means his value is likely to continue going up and the teams interested, especially Manchester United, mean that a significant contract and signing-on fee will be required to sign him.
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Barcelona will get to witness his talent firsthand because PSV are in the same group as them. The 23-year-old plays on the left-wing, but likes to come inside on his stronger foot, although he is also a skilled crosser. His all-round threat can be seen in his statistics because last season he averaged 2.6 key passes and 2.1 dribbles as well as a high shot volume of 3.4 per game, per WhoScored, which shows how heavily involved he is; he had similar numbers in the World Cup with 3.3 shots, 1.5 key passes and 3.5 dribbles per game.
His unpredictability means he is capable of destabilising organised defensive shapes as well as having the pace and dribbling ability to be a counter-attacking threat as shown against Germany in the World Cup. However, Barcelona don’t need another winger currently because Ousmane Dembele and Malcom cover that area more than capably. He could be used as a wide forward with Messi playing centrally and a winger on the other flank, but that seems unlikely. Keeping tabs on him is a good idea, but a move to another big club is likely next summer.
Next. Barcelona scout Lucas Paqueta. dark
Borussia Dortmund would be the best option for his career because he would be guaranteed a first-team spot as well as the Bundesliga being less of a jump in quality. He could them move on from there after a few seasons if he continues his rapid development.