Dream, realistic, wildcard, Squawka Suggests: How should replace Luis Suarez at Barcelona?

Luis Suárez has been a phenomenal striker for Barcelona, but he is clearly on the decline now.

Suárez signed for the Blaugrana from Liverpool for a colossal £65m back in the summer of 2014 and in the interim has won everything available to him. Suárez has a frankly absurd 155 goals in just 209 games for Barça, and in 2015/16 was statistically the best-performing forward in the world. He has well and truly lived his dream.

But now, at 31 years old, inexorable physical decline has set in. Suárez is still capable of excellent performances, but cannot raise his game to perform on a consistent basis as Barcelona’s starting striker must do. So a replacement is needed, but who? We’ve had a look and come up with four options for the Blaugrana as they look for their next no. 9.

Dream: Kylian Mbappé

When you’re an elite club talking about signing a striker, there can be no better choice than Kylian Mbappé. The young Frenchman hasn’t even turned 20 yet but is already breaking records with a frightening regularity. Why, just this summer he became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pelé. Pelé.

Mbappé would fit right in at Barcelona; sure, he’s not the kind of big body no. 9 that Suárez is, so he’s not going to battle with defenders. But he possesses the kind of pace, skill and movement to slot right into the shoes of Samuel Eto’o or Thierry Henry; who both had tremendous success with the Blaugrana and particularly with Leo Messi.

Mbappé and Messi would dovetail perfectly, with the Frenchman being an excellent outlet for Messi’s reality-warping passes. Imagine what a player with the passing range Messi has could do with someone who is as absurdly quick as Kylian Mbappé?

Meanwhile Mbappé’s close friend and compatriot Ousmane Dembélé is already at the club, and the two have a great chemistry on the field too. Those two either side of Messi? Duck and cover!! Barcelona were linked with signing Mbappé before he left Monaco for PSG, but now he’s in Paris the Emirate-owned club will never sell their crown jewel, so this is but a dream.

Realistic: Krzysztof Piątek

When it comes to realistic striker signings, it’s always wise to look at lesser-known strikers that the club has been scouting. For Barcelona this leads to Genoa’s Polish striker Krzysztof Piątek. The recently-capped international has started the season in absurd form, scoring 13 goals in his first nine games of the season including nine in his first seven Serie A ties.

Piątek is a big body striker, a less refined Robert Lewandowski. Not that he is without technique, but his greatest skills are definitely the athletic way he attacks, running with the ball and dominating in the air whenever crosses come in. Obviously his current goal return is unsustainable, but it shows his capacity for high volume production.

His arrival would signal a new phase for Barcelona, but then a battering ram like Piątek could be very effective for the Blaugrana’s slow and steady passing attack providing him with several chances a game. This is why the club have sent scouts to watch him. That, and he probably wouldn’t cost too much either. A perfectly realistic option.

Wildcard: Neymar

Neymar wants to come back to Barcelona! At least that’s what the media will have you believe. Apparently the Brazilian isn’t happy in Paris, which isn’t that hard to envision given less people take him seriously now than they did when he was “in Messi’s shadow” in Catalunya; and Neymar very much wants to be taken seriously.

So what if Barcelona simply replaced one member of the legendary M-S-N with another? Not directly, obviously. Neymar is no striker, he’d have to resume his previous position on the left of attack. This would place Leo Messi as a false nine and allow the pair to resume the interplay that devastated a continent for four years.

Of course, PSG spent a world record €222m on Neymar and would want that back and then some if he were to go back to Catalunya. Plus he’s not a no. 9 and so isn’t a true replacement for Suárez, and it’s highly unlikely that the Barcelona fans would welcome him back either. So, whilst fanciful, this move is definitely a wildcard.

Squawka Suggests: André Silva

Piątek is a great signing in theory, but there’s just no evidence he will be able to sustain his current level of performance (look at Andrea Belotti), but an athletic no. 9 is probably the best way for Barcelona to go. They have several technicians, they need someone up-top who can score goals but also get involved physically to give the team a different dimension.

Enter André Silva. The Portuguese striker is 22 years old (younger than Piątek) which is usually the “breakout age” for many top talents. He’s proven himself an incredibly consistent goalscorer at every club bar AC Milan, but they’re a dumpster fire so you can’t hold that against him.

He has an impressive 7 goals in 10 games for Sevilla this season and 14 goals in 29 games for his country. Silva is consistent, skilled, possessing enough athleticism to provide a genuine outlet for Messi’s miraculous passes whilst also having enough skill so that he doesn’t look all at sea in amongst the technical wizards of the Camp Nou.

Silva can score all kinds of goals, and most notably has shown no fear of big games, bagging a brace as Sevilla destroyed Real Madrid 3-0. He would give Barcelona everything they need in a (relatively) affordable package; and would continue the club’s great tradition of buying players “from” Sevilla (though obviously he is registered with Milan). Those players usually turn out great, too.

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