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Barcelona 'have 10 days to sign a No.9' with Suarez out for season

  /  autty

Alarm bells rang at Barcelona when Luis Suarez was ruled out for four months. He's practically out for the rest of the season, which means they may have to sign. 

Barça were not contemplating going to the market this month, but the Uruguayan's injury has radically changed their plans.  

They are looking for a forward that could fill in for Suarez, but it will not be easy. They want a player capable of performing immediately, with international experience, but whose price is not sky-high. 

And, of course, they will need to find a seller who is willing to lose one of their front men at this important stage of the season. 

GERMAN TOP SCORER 

Given that, Barça have turned their attention to Timo Werner,  the 23-year-old RB Leipzig striker who is leading the scoring in Germany. He has notched 20 times in 18 games in the Bundesliga, the same amount as Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski. 

In the race for the European Golden Shoe, only Lazio's Immobile, with 23 Serie A goals, is ahead of him. 

German international Werner could leave for around 30 million euros, according to Barça. That's an optimistic price, though, because he renewed last summer with a 60 million euros release clause. 

RUNNING AT THE PRICE 

But Barça don't want to spend huge sums of cash this month: the January window doesn't usually offer top-level players but the team does need goals with three titles to play for. 

One of their premises for this season is based on last season's experience: they want to avoid another Kevin Prince Boateng scenario, the forward who signed in January but didn't score a single goal. 

Another name that has appeared is Krzysztof Piatek, the Polish forward who plays for AC Milan, although he's not a priority for sporting director Eric Abidal and his No.2 Ramon Planes. 

The circumstances of Suarez's injury have obliged Barça to change plans: the original plan was to wait until summer when they would attempt to sign Inter's Lautaro Martinez, who has a 111 million euro release clause in the first half of July. 

Therefore, the conditions this month are: economic (not much more than 30 million euros, or on loan with an option to buy) and a player capable of covering Suarez's goals. It's a big ask.