Espanyol boss Mauricio Pochettino may be forced to look for alternatives to Felipe Caicedo in his efforts to sign a striker.
Marca reports that the Argentine Coach has made the Ecuador international his primary target over the summer but is becoming increasingly frustrated in his attempts to prise the 23-year-old away from Lokomotiv Moscow.
Pochettino is impatient because he knows his team is lacking in firepower with less than a week to go before the La Liga season opens with an away game against Real Mallorca.
Despite recent comments from Espanyol that ‘we will wait until August 31 if we have to’, time is starting to run out with no headway being made as Lokomotiv appear determined to hang on to the former Manchester City and Levante man.
Caicedo signed for the Russians from Levante for €7.5m in July 2011 and has made 21 League appearances, scoring eight goals, but is understood to be open to a return to Spain after his successful time at the Ciutat de Valencia.
His 13 goals in 27 La Liga games were instrumental in keeping Los Granotes in the top flight before he was snapped up by Lokomotiv, but Pochettino is understood to be eyeing Seattle Sounders’ Colombian striker Freddy Montero if the Caicedo situation drags on any longer.
Montero, 25, is considered one of the best players in Major League Soccer but has never played in Europe.
