Barcelona eyeing PSV's Malen, Lautaro Martínez also on radar
Barcelona are preparing to bring in a successor to Luis Suárez next summer, with a number of targets on the Catalans' wishlist.
Although next season is still nearly nine months away, Barcelona are already clear on their 2020/21 transfer priority.
Whether or not Luis Suárez stays at Barça - an issue that remains unresolved, despite the 32-year-old being under contract until 2021 - the club's efforts will be focused on signing a successor to the centre-forward in the summer.
This time, there won't be a repeat of last year's Luka Jovic situation. Having identified the Serb as a potential Suárez replacement - and watched him almost a dozen times - their pursuit then petered out due to a combination of his high asking price and the certainty that the Uruguayan would be at Camp Nou this term.
Lautaro, Malen chief among strikers interesting Barcelona
Rather than spending big on a fully established star, Barcelona are targeting up-and-coming strikers aged between 20 and 26, with 22-year-old Argentine Lautaro Martínez, who impressed in Inter Milan's Champions League defeat to Barça this month, a player the club admire. AC Milan's Portuguese starlet Rafael Leao, 20, is also being tracked by Blaugrana scouts.
However, while Barça's preference would be to sign a striker currently plying his trade in one of Europe's top leagues, the LaLiga champions are also tracking players such as Donyell Malen, 20, who has scored 16 goals in 18 games for Dutch side PSV Eindhoven this season - and is also on the radar of arch rivals Real Madrid.
In Ligue 1, meanwhile, the impact made by Victor Osinheim since his close-season move to Lille has attracted Barça's attention. The 20-year-old Nigerian international has hit eight goals in 11 appearances in all competitions for the Frenchmen.
Barcelona to intensify efforts in new year
Having already made the targets on their list aware of their interest, Barcelona are expected to step up their pursuit of a centre-forward in January.