Barcelona may have the best attacking trio in the world, but they have clearly struggled to keep up the scoring knack when they haven’t featured. Their overreliance on them has been a cause of worry now. Of course, it would have been very difficult for Enrique to find backups for the Neymar, Suarez or Messi, but the fact that he chose to have Paco Alcacer in the side, is quite strange.
Alcacer hasn’t been the best of backups quite visibly and Barcelona are desperately looking to bring in more reinforcements coming January. And as per reports, the Catalans are eyeing Milan striker Carlos Bacca.
The 30-year-old is close to exiting Milan in the summer, having struggled to find his form in Italy since moving to the San Siro from Sevilla in July 2015. He was very closely monitored by English giants Arsenal for long, but the talks are on hold now. With the new situation of Julian Draxler emerging, the Gunners have diverted their attention.
Barcelona technical director Robert Fernandez is now weighing up a transfer. According to Spanish newspaper Diario Gol, Fernandez has been instructed to find a new striker as Barca boss Luis Enrique has lost patience with Pace Alcacer.
Bacca is a natural centre-forward and a late bloomer. He isn’t the skilful dribbler or passer like Suarez, but he is one of the best clinical strikers in Europe at the moment. Bacca has scored six goals in 13 games for Milan this season.
His stout figure helps him muscle his way out of defence. He is more like Diego Costa and his style of play will surely add a totally different dimension of attack to Barcelona, who are habituated to playing with players who are flexible with positioning.
Bacca had a pretty good spell with Sevilla and his exploits in the La Liga could help him earn a move to the Blaugrana. The Serie A isn’t as open as the La Liga and Bacca has struggled to make a similar impact that he had under Unai Emery.
Milan are thought to be holding out £25million for the Colombian international. While the price tag won’t be a big problem for the Catalans, it is his not so strong passing and lack of defensive contributions that will be a major concern for Barcelona.
Bacca has a physical presence that could be quite effective in La Liga, and which is not quite familiarised with Barcelona. His aerial strength and finishing are powerful attributes and he has a shot accuracy of 75%.
While Bacca could be a decent option for the Catalans, he doesn’t seem to be the first choice for them. Bacca will surely be well aware of that and we think it is highly unlikely he’ll choose Barcelona, especially when he has many other suitors who will offer him regular game time.
