Everton and Crystal Palace are just two of the Premier League sides tipped to take Paco Alcacer away from La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Philippe Coutinho’s departure from Liverpool could be great news for Merseyside rivals Everton, and not just because it threatens to severely weaken Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The Daily Mail states that Barcelona must now find a way to balance the books after splurging £142 million on Liverpool’s number ten. And what better way to do this than by holding a Europe-wide auction for your fringe players?
The report claims that up to eight players could be shunted out of Camp Nou this month, and striker Paco Alcacer is one of those who has been put up for sale. Opportunity knocks for the toothless Toffees, then, who the Mail adds are interested in the former Valencia poacher.
Barcelona paid £27 million to sign Alcacer a year-and-a-half ago, but his opportunities have been few and far between. Alcacer is a quality striker, emphasised by his tally of six goals in 13 caps for Spain.
But he has paid for the crime of simply not being as good as Leo Messi or Luis Suarez. Alcacer has started just eight La Liga games for Barca, though he has scored six times in that run, including a match-winning brace against Sevilla earlier this season.
And with Everton manager Sam Allardyce stating that he wanted more strikers despite the addition of Cenk Tosun from Besiktas, time will tell whether the Toffees will now look to take Alcacer off Barca’s hands.
If they don’t, there will surely be other Premier League clubs willing to hand him an escape route. Crystal Palace were linked by talkSPORT back in September and Roy Hodgson is surely praying for the addition of another striker with the one-goal Christian Benteke his only natural centre-forward as things stand.
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