Lorenzo Insigne is the latest name to enter the radar for Barcelona, with the club scouting the player during Napoli’s Champions League match against Liverpool.
TransferMarketWeb are claiming that, according to murmurs in Italy, Barcelona are keen on Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne. The Catalans scouted the player out during the Champions League tie between Napoli and Liverpool, which ended with Insigne scoring the winner.
The report entails that Barcelona director Ariedo Braida was attending the game between Napoli and Liverpool to scout Kalidou Koulibaly. But, the director also ended up keeping a keen eye on Insigne and would have been impressed with the impact the forward had, scoring the winner late on in the game.
Lorenzo Insigne came through the ranks at Napoli and managed to break into the first-team at the club after a few loan spells at fellow Italian clubs. While Insigne is predominantly a left winger, his return and capability of being a goal threat has seen him being deployed as a centre-forward as well.
In fact, Carlo Ancelotti has been using Insigne in the second striker role behind Arkadiusz Milik. The Italian has started the season under the new manager well, with 7 goals and an assist in 10 games in the league and Champions League combined thus far.
Insigne is not your typical forward. The 27-year-old does not have the usual height of a forward but is still more than competitive in air. But, his mobility and ability to create enough space for himself to let out an attempt at goal is what makes him dangerous in the final third.
Barcelona have Luis Suarez as the only experienced centre-forward, with Paco Alcacer shipped to Dortmund during the summer. Insigne could offer an alternate approach to Ernesto Valverde. Inculcating Insigne into the lineup could also see Barcelona boast of a forward line that can interchange roles between themselves, thus creating more confusion for the opposition backline.
Suarez is 31 and has not been in the best of form this season, with just 3 goals in 11 games so far. The 27-year-old has managed to establish himself as a potent goalscorer in Europe and could be the designated replacement for the Uruguayan.
But, it would be interesting to see if Carlo Ancelotti is willing to let go of Lorenzo Insigne. If yes, at what price? Insigne has managed to become an inseparable piece at Napoli and it would be tough to replace the forward’s presence within the setup, in case Ancelotti agrees to sell Insigne.
Barcelona might be interested in Insigne. But, the best guess would be that, unless Insigne asks for a change of scenery, the 27-year-old is likely to stay put at Napoli.
