Since arriving at FC Barcelona back in 2014, Luis Suarez has been unstoppable in front of goal for the Spanish giants. In his first season in Spain, he managed 25 goals and 24 assists in all competitions for Barca. Suarez would boost an even more impressive record in the 2015/16 season as he earned 59 goals and 26 assists from 53 games. This past season he would continue to be lethal in front of goal as he scored 37 goals and got 20 assists in 51 games for Barca.
However, this season, in part due to injuries and ageing, Suarez appears to have lost a step. So far this season Suarez has made 18 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions. However, his record is nowhere near what it has been in past seasons. In fact, he has managed just six goals and three assists in his 18 games this season.
Suarez’s decline is also evident in other stats such as goals per game in La Liga. In the 2015/16 season, he managed 1.14 goals per game. Then in 2016/17 that went down to 0.83. And this season it has gone all the way down to 0.54 GPG. He is also struggling to convert his chances as each season goes by. In 2015/16 his shot conversion rate was 29.2%, then in 2016/17 it was 24.2% and this season it has taken a huge dip down to 15%.
This clearly shows that Suarez’s form is declining season by season and as this season is by far his worse for many years, plus the fact Suarez is 31 in January, maybe it is time for Barca to look for a new number nine. Here are three players they should look to sign.
Harry Kane
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of seasons, you know how good Harry Kane is. In his first full season in the Premier League, he played 34 games and scored 21 goals for Spurs.
Kane scored 25 in 38 the following season and then last season he managed to score 29 goals in 30 Premier League games. A simply outstanding record for any striker playing in the Premier League.
Furthermore, despite Kane’s usual August dip in form and Spurs poor displays this season, he is still scoring goals for fun. Already this season Kane has made 19 appearances in all competitions for Spurs and in those 19 games, he has scored 16 goals. Kane has also proven he can do it in the Champions League as six of those 16 goals have come in five Champions League games this season.
This shows Kane proven consistently over three and a bit seasons that he is a world-class striker that would fit into any team. Plus, Harry Kane is currently just 24 years old meaning that if Barca were to sign him, he could be their main striker for the forcible future.
Mauro Icardi
While Icardi does not quite have the goal scoring record of Harry Kane, he has still proven to be a top-class striker. But like Kane, he is only 24 which means that he still has plenty of time ahead of him to develop into an even better striker.
That’s not to say he isn’t already lethal in front of goal as his past season’s goal tallies will prove. The 2014/15 season saw Icardi bag 22 goals and eight assists in 36 league games. His 2015/16 was not as impressive as he managed 16 goals and four assists in 33 Serie A games. But his form did pick up a lot last season with the Argentine scoring 24 goals and getting seven assists in 34 league games.
However, it is likely Icardi’s goal scoring record from this season which may entice Barca to sign him as a replacement for Suarez. So far this season Icardi has played in all 15 of Inter Milan’s Serie A games, in which he has scored a remarkable 16 goals. This makes him the top scorer in the Serie A and is a big part of why Inter are unbeaten in the league this season. He also averages a goal every 82 minutes in the league for Inter which is a phenomenal return. Icardi also had strong leadership as he has been Inter Milan’s captain this season. And given that he is from Argentina he and Lionel Messi will already have some idea of how to play together as they have played together on international duty.
Alexis Sanchez
The final play Barca could look to sign to replace Suarez is Alexi Sanchez. Granted Sanchez is 28 himself so he is not exactly young. But he is still two years younger than Luis Suarez.
Sanchez has also played for Barcelona before he moved to Arsenal. This means he is already very familiar with their style of play and most of his teammates. And yes Sanchez is naturally a winger. But he can play at striker and when he has done in the past he has been excellent.
Take last season for example. Sanchez played 25 games as a centre-forward for Arsenal. He scored 19 goals and also managed 11 assists. This shows that if Barca were to re-sign Sanchez he could certainly do a job through the middle.
Alternatively, Sanchez could also play as a winger for Barca which would allow Messi to play in the centre-forward role, a position he largely occupied before Suarez signed for them. This gives Barca a flexibility they do not have with the above-mentioned players as they can only play as strikers whereas Sanchez provides much more versatility.
Perhaps the biggest plus point of signing Sanchez though is that if they sign him in the summer, he will cost nothing as his contract will have run out. Even if they sign him in January he still wouldn’t cost too much as Arsenal may be eager to get any amount of money for such a top player in January, rather than none in the summer. This will surely entre Barca’s mind when they are looking to replace Suarez as the players mentioned above are very likely to cost Barca above 100 million in today’s transfer market whereas Sanchez could be either free or around 20-30 million.
