Barcelona are reportedly poised to complete the loan signing of former Ghana forward Kevin-Prince Boateng from Serie A side Sassuolo.
In one of the most shocking transfer developments of the ongoing transfer window, La Liga champions Barcelona are on the verge of signing Sassuolo attacker Kevin-Prince Boateng on loan for the rest of the season, reports reputed Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.
Barcelona are in the market for a new striker to provide cover for first-choice centre-forward Luis Suarez. The Catalans allowed Paco Alcacer to join Borussia Dortmund in the summer and sold academy product Munir El Haddadi to Sevilla earlier this month, with the youngster failing to make an impression in the first half of the season.
This has left Barca short on numbers in the striker position. The reigning La Liga champions were believed to be looking at the possibility of loaning Alvaro Morata from Chelsea for the rest of the season. But, the Spaniard is set to seal a move to title rivals Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona also considered the possibility of signing Uruguayan international Cristhian Stuani from Girona, but have now decided to bring Kevin-Prince Boateng to Camp Nou to act as a backup for Suarez.
The 31-year-old German-born Ghanaian forward started out at Hertha BSC and went on to have spells at Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund (loan), Portsmouth, Genoa, AC Milan, Schalke, Las Palmas and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Boateng joined Sassuolo this past summer, after his contract with Eintracht ran out. Since moving to Italy, the former Ghana international has found the back of the net on five occasions and has set up two more goals from 15 appearances in all competitions.
While the deal does come as a bit of a bizarre one, Boateng is someone who has experience of playing in the Spanish top-flight, having scored 10 times in 28 appearances during his time with Las Palmas (2016-17). Moreover, the 31-year-old has some degree of experience playing at the top level, having seen a fair amount of success at AC Milan.
It is believed that Barcelona will be paying a loan fee of €2 million to Sassuolo, with an option of making the deal permanent at the end of the season for a transfer fee of €8 million. Personal terms have reportedly been agreed and the deal is expected to go through sometime this week. It will be interesting to see if Boateng turns out to be a success at Camp Nou, or if the transfer misfires.
