Everything Barca
Fansided

Barcelona better off standing pat in pursuit of a striker

By Ernesto Hernandez

Barcelona's new Ghanaian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng poses with Barcelona's French technical secretary Eric Abidal (R) and Barcelona's Spanish vice president Jordi Mestre (L) during his official presentation at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on January 22, 2019. - Boateng has vowed to make the most of his shock arrival at Barcelona, after a loan move for the journeyman from Italian side Sassuolo was sealed. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP) (Photo credit should read LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
Barcelona's new Ghanaian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng poses with Barcelona's French technical secretary Eric Abidal (R) and Barcelona's Spanish vice president Jordi Mestre (L) during his official presentation at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on January 22, 2019. - Boateng has vowed to make the most of his shock arrival at Barcelona, after a loan move for the journeyman from Italian side Sassuolo was sealed. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP) (Photo credit should read LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Barcelona’s track record in the winter transfer window should be a cause for concern.

Over the past couple of days, Barcelona have been linked with the likes of Rodrigo Moreno, Pierre-Emerick Aubumeyang and Olivier Giroud as possible replacement for Luis Suarez.

But the question should be whether or not the club need to sign anyone at all?

More from Everything Barca

It is easy to quickly say yes given how much they seem to miss him when he’s not there despite his inconsistency.

Losing Luis Suarez was always going to be a blow because he still offers the team something other than simply being a goalscorer.

Given Barcelona’s record in the January transfer window, not signing anyone would not be the worst choice.

Last season, they signed both Jeison Murillo and Kevin-Prince Boateng with the latter brought in to be a back-up to Suarez.

Boateng hardly played at all and the move turned out to be a bad one. They simply cannot afford to make the same mistake.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are working to come up with a deal with Valencia for Rodrigo.

Sport claim that Olivier Giroud would be the back-up should the two sides fail to reach an agreement.

With all due respect to both, and to Aubumeyang, these options don’t exactly set the world on fire. The Chelsea and Arsenal strikers are past the age of 30 and Rodrigo would only be a short-term solution.

Barcelona are not getting any older and they need to think long-term when it comes to a striker. They’ve long been interested in Inter’s Lautaro Martinez and it would be a better bet to wait until the summer to sign him than to bring in someone now, fail to adapt and then have to find a new team for them come the end of the season.

Short-term thinking is how they got into this mess in the first place. Going after big names or players past their prime is why the squad still needs a refresh even after the investment made over the past couple of seasons.

They need to make do with what they have and make it work. Ousmane Dembélé is on track to return in February and could slot back in with Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann in the attack. The knock on the former Borussia Dortmund player is his fitness but Barcelona need to see what they have with him should they decide they need to move on in the summer.

Barcelona have spent an excess of €300 million trying to find a Neymar replacement. The Catalans simply cannot afford to do the same with when it comes to a striker. If Martinez ticks all the boxes for them, then they need to wait it out and sign him from Inter.

Next. Bundesliga leaders emerge favourites to secure key Barcelona target. dark

Otherwise, the poor spending spree will continue while other areas get ignored.