Barcelona offered Sevilla striker Luuk de Jong

Barcelona may have just been handed a bit of a lifeline when it comes to their search for a new striker.

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According to Sport, Sevilla has offered the Catalan side the opportunity to sign their striker, Luuk de Jong.

The striker position still a point of weakness for Barcelona

Manager Ronald Koeman has been quite clear he would like the club to sign another goalscorer given the injury to Sergio Agüero. They do have the likes of Martin Braithwaite and Rey Manaj. But the latter is unproven at the top level and could still end up leaving.

When it comes to Braithwaite, despite scoring twice and providing an assist in their win against Real Sociedad, his deficiencies were on display in their 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao.

He missed a sitter that would have seen Barcelona go ahead. His link-up play also leaves much to be desired though his grit and determination cannot be questioned.

Still, the Danish striker is not good enough to lead the line for Barcelona. Frankly, neither is De Jong. The Dutchman is a candidate simply because Koeman knows him from their time in the Netherlands national team.

De Jong arrived at Sevilla with plenty of expectations but has failed to reach them. He’s been inconsistent through his time with the club. He went through stretches where he was on the bench and didn’t get on the pitch.

Even if Barcelona were to be interested, they could only afford to sign him on a loan and would need Sevilla to pay some of his wages.

Sevilla would like to get his wages off the books as they recently signed Rafa Mir so the writing is on the wall for De Jong.

A move is unlikely to happen given president Joan Laporta’s statement that the era of signing “average” players was over. De Jong is a fine player but, similar to Braithwaite, not at the level necessary for a club like Barcelona.

They cannot afford to keep signing players who don’t produce when it matters. They have too many as it is. All that being said, the transfer window is set to close soon. Barring more player exits, Koeman is going to have to make do with what he has as his striker request is going to be denied.