Barcelona have reportedly identified Eintracht Frankfurt striker Andre Silva as an alternative for transfer target Sergio Aguero ahead of the summer.
According to a report from Spanish publication El Gol Digital, La Liga giants Barcelona have expressed an interest in signing Eintracht Frankfurt’s Portuguese striker Andre Silva in the summer transfer window.
It is no secret that Barcelona are in the market for a new No. 9 ahead of the next season. Having let Luis Suarez leave for arch-rivals Atletico Madrid, the Catalans have been left with just Martin Braithwaite as their only natural centre-forward option, who has hardly been convincing enough.
As a result, manager Ronald Koeman has had to use either of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann through the centre. And while the Barcelona skipper continues to perform admirably despite being 33, it is imperative that the club addresses the issue head-on in the summer if they are to avoid being too overreliant on their captain.
To that end, Barcelona have identified Manchester City’s all-time leading goalscorer, Sergio Aguero, as a transfer target. Given that he will be a free agent at the end of the season and has loads of experience, the Argentine becomes a viable target for the Catalans. But, his recent injury record remains a cause of concern.
In addition, Aguero’s agent is said to have demanded €10 million as a signing-on bonus. Given Barcelona’s current financial predicament, they are reluctant to meet those demands, which makes sense considering Aguero’s age and the wages he will be commanding.
As a result, alternatives are being drawn up and one among those, as per the report, is Eintracht Frankfurt’s Andre Silva. Having burst onto the scene with Portuguese giants FC Porto, the centre-forward earned a high-profile transfer to AC Milan but endured a frustrating spell in Italy.
After a middling loan spell with Sevilla, the 25-year-old signed for Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019, initially on loan before making the transfer permanent last summer. Ever since, Silva has been in red-hot form, plundering 22 goals and 7 assists from 26 games in all competitions, helping the team to a surprise top-four push in the Bundesliga.
Silva’s rise back to prominence has not gone unnoticed with Premier League giants Manchester United eyeing him as a prospective transfer target for the summer as they look to bolster their attacking unit. And now, the Portuguese international has popped up on the radars of Barcelona as well.
The report claims that Barcelona see the 25-year-old as the closest like-for-like replacement for Luis Suarez due to his positional awareness, strength and ability to pin down opposition defenders. Apart from Silva, Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette and Lyon’s Memphis Depay are also under consideration at the moment.
It now remains to be seen whether Barcelona do act on their reported interest in Silva or instead press ahead with their pursuit of Sergio Aguero at the end of the season.
