Barcelona have already decided on their main target for the January transfer window.
The Blaugrana are able to sign players again having come below their La Liga salary cap over the course of the summer with the likes of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann departing.
And while they won’t be spending any huge fees, they do need to replace frontman Sergio Aguero in the short-term.
Aguero was recently ruled out for three months with an irregular heartbeat, and that leaves Barca short of a frontman.
To remedy that, Barca could look to Manchester United frontman Edinson Cavani, according to Diario AS.
Cavani, who is a proven scorer, even at the age of 36, has fallen out of favour at United following the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo.
That means he could become available in January given the fact he will want to spend his final year or two in the game actually playing football, and he should be available on the cheap with his contract at Old Trafford up in the summer.
Barca could get Cavani on the cheap, and given the Uruguayan would very much be a short-term option, he might just suit the Catalan giants.
Two things:
First of all, Man United’s mediocre coach is slowly realizing that employing Ronaldo as a lone striker is not wise and he teamed him with Cavani in a tandem up front last game with dynamic results. The final step is to integrate a third wheel such as Jaden Sancho into an eventual 4-3-3 as was the case at Real Madrid with Ronaldo-Benzema-Bale.
United is trying to win the Premier League and the Champions League. How does subtracting Cavani help them towards that end?
Secondly, a simple Google search provides the specifics of the La Liga salary cap and shows each team’s limits:
1. Real Madrid are allowed to spend 739 million on salaries
2. Sevilla has a 200 million euros salary cap
3. Atletico Madrid 172 million (high debt on new stadium)
4. Villareal 159 million (Champion’s League money this year)
5. Real Sociedad 128 million
6. Athletic Club 111 million
7. Barcelona 98 million (1.36 BILLION euros of debt)
8. Espanyol 78 million
Barcelona’s debt will burden them until it is substantially reduced. They are currently a lot closer to cross-town rival Espanyol than they are Real Madrid financially speaking.
Big name additions are a fantasy right now unless they move out players of similar financial cost.