Barcelona will make a decision on signing a new striker after the Copa del Rey second leg against Levante - but their shortlist will raise a few eyebrows.
Chelsea duo Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud, Tottenham's Fernando Llorente, West Ham's Lucas Perez and Cristhian Stuani are all in the running.
The club sold their only reserve centre forward, Munir, to Sevilla last week.
Barcelona trail 2-1 going into the second leg against Levante and cup elimination would reduce the burden on Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi between now and the end of the season.
Barca could still make a signing but they would look for a loan with no obligation to buy if they crash out of the cup and that would rule out Stuani and Morata.
The Uruguayan, formerly of Middlesbrough, is La Liga's third-top scorer with 12 goals for Girona and he scored with an overhead kick at the weekend. Girona will only sell if Barcelona meet his €15million release clause. The club are baulking at paying that much for a 32-year-old.
Chelsea will not let Morata leave on anything less than a loan deal with an obligation to buy. He would be the most expensive of Barcelona's options and the club are not wholly convinced he is the right player to eventually replace Luis Suarez.
Ernesto Valverde is fan of Fernando Llorente but Barcelona believe the injury to Harry Kane makes it harder for them to bring him in on loan.
Giroud ticks many of the right boxes in Barcelona's search for a player who would be ready to play immediately. He has not played in La Liga but is experienced enough to fit immediately into the team but Chelsea are not in a position to lose forwards without replacements.
Another name now under consideration is Lucas Perez. Betis are also trailing the former Arsenal forward now at West Ham.
nomabeio
0
What about Andre Silva 21 to 22 years old he is a striker and perfect to replace suarez
He is quite unpredictable. Give him time for 2 seasons to settle in la liga
Ruoadstuz
4
What about Andre Silva 21 to 22 years old he is a striker and perfect to replace suarez
bra_143
1
Barca are still not looking at Mario baloteli
Huwilnpty
2
Piatek or Ighalo or Perez
Yepbdnprsz
3
we need morats
Rabuti
0
Breaking news: Barcelona target Lukaku as Suarez replacement (Marca)
Not this please
Rabuti
3
Stuani is far much better than morata, Is what Barca needs
CristoJosep
1
What about Maxi Gomez the 22yrs old Uruguayan.He plays in la liga,he is young,ability to score i think he would be the best optionand even the fact that he was learning from Luis Suarez his compatriot.Valverdes option is yust a Lorente.We dont need an oldtimers here.
ReyMessi17
2
Llórente is impossible because Kane is injured and Spurs don’t want to play false 9, so they’re gonna use Llorente. So he’s discarded. Morata and Stuani are their main strikers for now.
Dhairya_Rawal
4
Why not someone like Portu?? Lucas Perez is alright as an option and I truly believe that Morata will spring back to life in La Liga so he's not a bad option at all!!!
Grialdo
0
If true that all but confirms that Dennis Suarez is leaving and they just want one of the above mentioned guys as a stop gap backup till someone better comes around.
courtlow
0
Well they have Messi and Suarez already might as well sign me up
Rockmans
2
Yeah barca need players to warm their bench
basicallye
1
Please sign Morata, straight swap for Messi.
xvidoeos
1
Barca.....You can have Morata and Giroud for $100m !!
educatea
0
Well we can safely say that Llorente's out of the equation now. Could always take Janssen if they're desperate.
yourself
0
bench warmer for Barcelona, main strikers for Chelsea, no wonder they are having hard time
James23
0
Tell them to look at Everton they have some cheap strikers if that's what they are looking for
upup112
0
So Barca want morata giroud and willian from Chelsea?? Yea ok lol
jealousyh
0
Spurs won't sell lorente after kanes injury. They should scoop up javier Hernandez or Callum Wilson, both of them are likely to move this window.
freefell
0
Might as well add Lukaku in the list, am i the only who thinks this is a fake news.
begongq
0
I heard Andy Carroll is also on it
Christening
0
Not that surprising they only want someone as a back up who can fill in for meaningless games and the odd 20 mins here and there.
opaqu
0
The main requirement is the candidate must first n foremost, be willing to warm the bench with no guarantee of ever playing if Mess n Suarez are available
Elizabethse
0
There aren't that many really good strikers around at the minute
Itzfreeboy
2
This lazy striker can progress at Barcelona 💯
Mes-que-en-club
3
Breaking news: Barcelona target Lukaku as Suarez replacement (Marca)
janabarca
2
morata or giroud won,t be bad at all reasons 1. valverde prefers long balls under pressure so we need someone who challenges the defender to get the ball 2.dembele and jordi alba excellent crossers with aerial ability of giroud or morata we can get minimum of 10 goals per season 3.morata maybe a flop at Chelsea but he will become super star in la liga who knows(like de bryne and salah did after leaving Chelsea
Edoo87
1
look like fake news
Betaeimrz
0
to be fair I would take out of all of them he knows how to link up play set up other players and very good in the air with dembele who likes to cross so I don't think it would be a bad signing