Barcelona and Xavi Hernandez have been keen to back their underperforming forwards this season, at least publicly maintaining faith that they will eventually reach their potential at Camp Nou.
However decisions must be made and it seems unlikely that they will not be tempted to cut their losses on at least one of them.
Ferran Torres arrived for €55m from Manchester City and despite the fact that he showed promise early on, has been going through a crisis of confidence since the start of this campaign.
Meanwhile Raphinha was their most expensive recruit of the summer, costing €58m. The Brazilian has mixed good performances with the bad, but is clearly second choice behind Ousmane Dembele.
And then there is the awkward case of Ansu Fati. The 20-year-old forward has started just nine games this season, and completed just two. He continues to look short of fitness, but unable to win enough minutes to get it back.
According to Sport, Barcelona want to bring in two forwards capable of lessening the goalscoring load on Robert Lewandowski in the summer, capable of backing up the Polish striker and another that can play out wide. That would leave at least one, if not two of the current options without a place in the squad.
One may well be 17-year-old Brazilian starlet Vitor Roque, whom the Blaugrana have been heavily linked with.
The report from the Catalan daily goes on to say the recruitment department tend to finalise their plans for the summer in March, which leaves the three attackers mentioned with about a month to prove that they belong.
Image via EFE/EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK
