Barcelona Transfer News Roundup: Ronald Koeman says he wants a new striker at the club, Barca makes decision on David Alaba and more: 4 January 2021
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has made a plea to the board to sign a new striker. But will it happen this transfer window?
Barcelona managed to walk away with all three points last night against Huesca thanks to a first-half goal from Frenkie De Jong. They had to endure a nervy finish to the game because of the slender lead that they held on to but Ronald Koeman and co. got the job done.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 4 January 2021.
AC Milan re-enter race to sign Memphis Depay
Memphis Depay is almost certain to leave Olympique Lyon at the end of the season and Barcelona is being touted as his most likely destination. According to Sky, AC Milan have also joined the race to secure the services of the Dutchman.
The Rossoneri have been linked with Memphis Depay since 2018. But they had seemingly given up on but have now registered an interest in Depay once again as his contract situation gives them a great opportunity to sign him in the January transfer window.
Recent reports have suggested that Olympique Lyon are willing to let Memphis Depay leave for as little as €5 million as they run the risk of losing him for free in the summer. Barcelona have to sell players before they can buy new ones and AC Milan will look to take advantage of the situation.
Barcelona pull out of race for David Alaba
Bayern Munich defender David Alaba is the most sought-after to-be free agent in the market and according to Marca, Barcelona were in talks with David Alaba's agent Pini Zhavi earlier but have now decided to pull out due to the Austrain international's high wage demands.
They have realized that they cannot compete with the financial clout of Real Madrid at the moment and Zinedine Zidane and co. are the frontrunners to sign him as things stand.
Real Madrid are looking at David Alaba as someone who can compete for a starting spot with Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane and take over at centre-back when the former ultimately calls it a day.
Ronald Koeman says Barcelona need a new striker
Speaking to the media after Barcelona's 1-0 win against Huesca, manager Ronald Koeman made no secret of his desire to sign a new striker. Barcelona suffered a few nervy moments towards the end of the game after they failed to put away their chances.
Koeman said:
“There’s no need to repeat what we said at the start of the season, that we need someone up front to have more competition, more goals and more efficiency, but it depends on a lot of things.”
However, he was quick to quell suggestions that this had something to do with benching Antoine Griezmann.
“I trust each player in our squad. If we go for three midfielders, we have space for three forwards. With Messi open on one side we went for those who can give us a lot of depth in Ousmane Dembele, and Martin Braithwaite because in these type of games we need a player of his style. That doesn’t say anything about Antoine. We need all the players, there are many games ahead.”