Saints Marching
Fansided

Southampton: Paco Alcacer reportedly allowed to leave Barcelona

By Chris Hughes

VITORIA-GASTEIZ, SPAIN - AUGUST 26: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona celebrates with his teammates Paco Alcacer of FC Barcelona after scoring his team's second goal during the La Liga match between Deportivo Alaves and Barcelona at Estadio de Mendizorroza on August 26, 2017 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)
VITORIA-GASTEIZ, SPAIN - AUGUST 26: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona celebrates with his teammates Paco Alcacer of FC Barcelona after scoring his team's second goal during the La Liga match between Deportivo Alaves and Barcelona at Estadio de Mendizorroza on August 26, 2017 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

In a report earlier today, it’s been said that Paco Alcacer has been given the green light to leave the Spanish giants this January.

Crystal Palace and Southampton have been put on high alert following the news, with the two Premier League teams linked with adding more firepower to their line-ups when the transfer window re-opens in January.

Despite spending big money on Mario Lemina and Wesley Hoedt, the Saints didn’t make any new additions to their attack over the course of the summer, despite failing to replace Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle’s departures the previous year.

Alcacer isn’t similar to either of the two former Southampton players but he would offer another dimension up front and would freshen up what has been a relatively stale Southampton attack so far this season.

Only Manolo Gabbiadini has a goal from open play and that came over a month ago in the win over West Ham – in fact the whole team only has five goals from eight games.

BARCELONA, SPAIN – AUGUST 07: Paco Alcacer of FC Barcelona competes for the ball with Artur Moraes of Chapecoense during the Joan Gamper Trophy match between FC Barcelona and Chapecoense at Camp Nou stadium on August 7, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – AUGUST 07: Paco Alcacer of FC Barcelona competes for the ball with Artur Moraes of Chapecoense during the Joan Gamper Trophy match between FC Barcelona and Chapecoense at Camp Nou stadium on August 7, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) /

What remains unclear is how much the Catalan giants would be after for their back-up forward, having recruited him from Valencia for around £27 million. Assuming that they would want to recoup most of their investment, it would be smart to suggest that Southampton would have to spend a record fee to bring in the striker.

More from Saints Marching

The 24-year-old is reportedly joined on the transfer list by Arda Turan and Thomas Vermaelen, with the latter having been linked with Southampton before.

Southampton fans may have some questions regarding a potential record transfer for the striker however, as he’s only managed double figures in the league on two occasions across his senior career.

His highest tally across all competitions for a single season is 15 and that came from 45 appearances – an average of just one in three. Despite possessing good hold-up play and good passing in addition to his attacking game, he’s yet to prove himself as an elite forward.

Furthermore, he’s sure to have lost some sharpness with his lack of consistent playing time with Barca, having featured as a substitute in the majority of his 23 league appearances so far for his side.

Home/Transfer Rumors