da esoccer bet： According to reports on talkSPORT, Southampton have been alerted to the fact that out-of-favour Barcelona striker Paco Alcacer wants to leave the club during the January transfer window.
da supremo： TalkSPORT says that Saints were keen on signing the 24-year-old during the summer, but Barca obviously looked to keep the Spain international after selling Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, while the player himself would have been keen to prove himself at the Camp Nou having only joined from Valencia in 2016.
However, those regular first team minutes haven’t been forthcoming under Ernesto Valverde this term and Alcacer could now look to leave the Catalan giants in the New Year.
Meanwhile, Saints’ goalscoring issues from last season have continued into this one under Mauricio Pellegrino and they have now failed to score in 10 of their last 14 top flight matches, and it could mean that the Argentine looks to strengthen his attacking options when the window reopens in 2018.
Here are three reasons Southampton must make Alcacer their top January target…
Goals
While he has struggled to find the net during his time at Barcelona – which is quite understandable as he often found himself behind Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar in the pecking order last season – Alcacer has still scored a respectable eight goals in 30 appearances for the Catalan giants following his move in 2016.
Considering many of those outings came off of the substitutes’ bench it is hard to judge the 24-year-old too much on that, but the fact that he has netted six from 13 caps for Spain and 15 in 46 games in his final season with Valencia would probably be a more accurate representation of his goalscoring abilities.
Ability
You don’t play for Valencia, get picked up by Barcelona and play 13 times for Spain unless you have something about you, and Alcacer has certainly shown the qualities that he has in his game over the course of the past few years.
While he has struggled to make a huge impact at the Camp Nou, there is no doubt that Southampton would be pulling off a huge coup if they managed to bring him to St Mary’s and the Premier League, and he could prove to be the missing link in their misfiring attack.
Price tag
While Alcacer cost Barcelona £26m when he joined them from Barcelona in 2016, Ernesto Valverde remained relatively coy in his latest comments on the striker, although some would suggest that it sounds as though he is surplus to requirements.
According to Goal, when the Barca boss was questioned about why the 24-year-old wasn’t in the Champions League squad for the clash against Sporting Lisbon, he replied: “Paco was in the squad for the Girona game. Who knows what will happen in the future?
“There are 24 players in the squad and you’ll ask me every week about the players who aren’t in the team. I can’t pick them all.”
It would suggest that the Spain international could be available in January for a reasonable, and that is something that will tempt Southampton as they have tended to spend between £10m-£20m on their high-profile signings in recent years.
Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.