Barcelona looking to secure loan move for Chelsea striker

Barcelona have long been in the market to reinforce their attack to remedy their finishing woes. Despite the signing of Ferran Torres virtually completed, the Blaugrana have been in contact with Chelsea over a potential loan move for outcast striker Timo Werner, as per Pol Alonso.

The 25-year-old has experienced a reasonably turbulent stint at the London club, and with the signing of Romelu Lukaku this summer, his future grows uncertain at Stamford Bridge, with links formulating between the German and Newcastle United. 

A new rumour has surfaced, however, suggesting that the Catalans are interested in the former Leipzig player to fortify their strength upfront at the onset of an especially underwhelming attacking season.

Until this year, Barcelona had held the best-attacking record in the league from the 2015/16 season. Now, Barça sit at a joint 4th place in goals scored, an obvious regression in the traditional style of play that the club has adopted since the days of Johan Cruyff.

This is a shortcoming that Xavi would hope to amend in the coming transfer window and has already taken steps towards with the signing of Manchester City player Ferran Torres. In addition to this, the Blaugrana are reportedly willing to include players in an operation to loan Timo Werner from Chelsea. 

Barcelona have a number of players that they hope to offload in the January transfer window to free up their wage bill and accommodate new signings in Xavi’s project, including the likes of Luuk de Jong, Philippe Coutinho, and Samuel Umtiti (although whether Chelsea would be accepting of these players is a concern).

This is not the first report linking the Catalans with a new striker signing, with earlier reports suggesting that Edinson Cavani was also on the club’s radar, although recent updates indicate that no formal contacts had been made.

In any case, the club certainly needs attacking reinforcements if they hope to salvage what is left of this season.