Barcelona 'likely' to Sell Gerard Deulofeu and Alcacer in the Summer

Gerard Deulofeu could leave Barcelona in the coming months after failing to impress manager Ernesto Valverde, who is primed to oversee an offensive overhaul at the Camp Nou. Deulofeu, 23, re-joined Barcelona from Everton for around £10.6m in the summer and has received a substantial amount of game-time during the embryonic stages of the new La Liga campaign, which has seen the Blaugrana race to a five-point lead at the top of the table.

The former Sevilla loanee has started four of Barcelona's seven opening league matches this season but has not played a minute of his side's last three games after falling out-of-favour under Valverde, according to Mundo Deportivo.

The Barcelona manager's wide attacking options are not exactly vast due to the serious injury sustained by Ousmane Dembele, who is expected to return in January, but despite the absence of the precocious Frenchman Valverde is reluctant to call upon Deulofeu, who has a €20m termination clause in his contract in Catalonia.

Deulofeu is not the only forward who could leave Barcelona in the next few months; misfiring forward Paco Alcacer has also been put up for sale by the Barca hierarchy. Alcacer arrived at the Camp Nou from Valencia in the summer of 2016 but never looked like breaking into the fabled Barcelona frontline and has been rather ineffective when deployed in a wide attacking role.

The prospective departures of Alcacer and Deulofeu is set to give Barcelona added wiggle room to complete the overhaul of their attack. With Neymar gone and Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez advancing in years, Barca chiefs are looking for an added injection of slightly younger attacking quality and have reportedly identified Antoine Griezmann and Anthony Martial as the men to fulfil their offensive needs.

Griezmann recently signed a new deal with Diego Simeone's men in order to ward off interest from Manchester United, but the release clause in his contract is set to drop from €200m to €100m (£89.3m) next summer.

Credit - IBTimes

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