Leeds United forward on Barcelona radar for the winter | OneFootball

Barcelona have wanted to invest in a striker position for quite some time now as their crises in front of goal get worse. Despite their best efforts, the Catalans know that they will be unable to acquire Alvaro Morata this winter. Juventus, marred with injuries in their forward line, could not accept to have a striker leave the team.

Regardless of this fact, the Blaugrana still do need to reinforce their attack. And if reports from El Nacional are true, they have found their man in Leeds United forward, Rodrigo Moreno. The English club have him valued somewhere around €15-20 million, as they seek to make some money from their €30 million purchase back in 2020.

Rodrigo has not had the best time in England. The Spanish striker scored seven Premier League goals in his debut season with the Whites. Having struggled with fitness this campaign, he has only two goals to his name. Marcelo Bielsa, therefore, does not consider him non-transferrable.

It was recently reported that Barcelona had a ‘secret operation’ underway for a centre-forward, and SPORT journalist Toni Juanmarti retweeted that with the word “RM?”.

For Xavi Hernandez, having a player like Rodrigo is essential. He is ambidextrous and has has shown his proficiency under a positional play system such as that of Luis Enrique. Furthermore, he has had a successful past in La Liga with Valencia. As such, fitting into the league will not be such a tall task for him.

The Spanish international sees this as a chance to regain a spot in Lucho’s dynamics. Rodrigo has reportedly asked Bielsa if he could allow him to leave and join Xavi’s side and knows that in the current climate, he would for sure receive playing time. Minutes on the pitch will go a long way into making his way back into the Spain squad for the World Cup this year.

Should he join Barcelona, then it would be at a lower salary than that which he earns at Leeds. Barça lack the financial power that they had as recently as 2019. Thanks to conversations he had with Mateu Alemany, Barcelona’s sporting director, he would be willing to accept lower wages.