Scouting Barcelona transfer targets for January

With the winter transfer window creeping up on us, we take a closer look at some of the players Catalan giants FC Barcelona are being linked with here.

Pepe Reina, the Liverpool custodian currently on loan at Napoli, starts proceedings. The goalkeeper, a former Barcelona man himself, has hit top form for the Italian club, successfully recovering from a very error-riddled, poor 2012-13 season at Anfield. The Spaniard has made a total of 40 saves in Napoli colours, he has kept 5 clean sheets ( from 12 games ), and this is just in Serie A. A highlight of his season so far is being the first goalkeeper to save a Mario Balotelli penalty kick in competitive play.

Borussia Dortmund Center Back Mats Hummels hasn’t exactly been in the form that saw him challenging Thiago Silva for the title of ”best defender in the world” last season, but he’s still better than most defensive options at the Camp Nou. The German defender has won 4.1 aerial duels per game, has averaged a pass success rate of 82.5% and takes 0.9 shots per game. The dirty sides to his game? He’s been cautioned 3 times so far this season, he’s been sent off once this season already ( in a fairly big game too ) and he has committed 14 fouls so far.

Robert Lewandowski has also been linked to Barcelona a fair bit. The Polish striker has gotten 12 goals and 4 assists in all competitions for Borussia Dortmund so far this season, but a slight drawback is perhaps that he’s been cautioned 3 times already. His shots per game average is 3.8, his pass percentage is a pretty average 72.2% unfortunately and he has won 4.3 of his aerial duels. Last season the striker scored a total of 39 goals ( including a hattrick against Real Madrid in Champions League play ) in 56 appearances for club and country and he also took 94 shots, not that much more than the 51 shots he has taken so far this season.

Lastly we take a look at Marc-Andre ter Stegen. This season so far the goalkeeper has made 55 saves in 14 games for Borussia Monchengladbach, and has also been cautioned but one time. He has picked up 3 clean sheets thus far. Last season the ‘keeper made a total of 159 saves in 44 games, being cautioned twice. The young German goalkeeper will probably be the best long term replacement for Victor Valdes at the Camp Nou, being just 21 years of age and facing more than another decade at the highest level in football.

There we have it, a closer look at some of the players being linked with the Spanish champions. Thank you for reading, and please leave comments below.