Luis Enrique reveals he wants a ‘pure’ striker to complement Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar at Barcelona
SunSport looks at various veteran big men the Spanish champions could bring in on the cheap this summer
— which is Tika Taka talk for “a big man up front”.
Currently, the Catalan club's 'only' really have Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar as striking options.
Their season appeared to unravel as the trio briefly ran out of steam.
Back in 2004, a prolific attack which included the likes of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Deco, Ludovic Giuly and a 17-year-old Messi was complemented with the arrival of 33-year-old, Henrik Larsson on a free signing.
The result was that the veteran Swede’s cameo in the following season’s Champions League final would play a vital in Barca overcoming Arsenal in Paris,
And Enrique is hoping for a similar cheap inspiration this summer.
Reports in Catalonia have seen the reigning Spanish champions linked with various ‘alternatives’ following failure to land first-choice frontmen Gabriel Jesus, Kevin Gameiro, Luciano Vietto and Ousmane Dembele.
SunSport looks at five players who fit the bill.
Mario Gomez, 31 years old
German spent last season on loan at Besiktas —and netted 26 goals on the way to winning the Super Lig title.
However, he decided to return to parent club, Fiorentina, following the recent coup in Turkey.
The Italian side are keen to see Gomez leave despite an impressive Euro 2016 as Germany reached the semi-finals.
He led Stuttgart to their first league title in 15 years when he netted 16 times in 2007.
Gomez then moved to Bayern Munich in 2009 and scored 113 goals in 174 appearances — winning two league titles, two German Cups, one German Super Cup and a Champions League.
He moved to Fiorentina but injury saw his form dip and he was subsequently omitted from Germany’s 2014 World Cup squad.
Gomez has scored 29 goals in 68 international appearances.
Robin van Persie, 32
One of the Premier League’s all-time great strikers.
The prolific Dutchman moved to Arsenal in 2004 and, despite struggling with injuries, he still scored an impressive 132 goals in 277 appearances in eight years.
Sir Alex Ferguson brought him to Manchester United in the summer of 2012 and Van Persie enjoyed arguably the best season of his career as he scored 30 goals in all competitions on the way to a maiden title.
He remains the highest scoring Dutchman in the Premier League — ahead of the Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Dennis Bergkamp.
Like Gomez, he spent last season in Turkey, with Fenerbahce, but looks set to leave after just one campaign in the Super Lig — scoring 22 goals in 48 games.
Van Persie is also Holland’s record goal scorer with 50.
Wilfried Bony, 27
Ivorian has been deemed surplus to requirements at Manchester City.
New boss, Pep Guardiola, has told Bony he can go — with former club Swansea a likely destination.
The burly frontman fits the bill perfectly for what Enrique is looking for.
Although, he is likely to command a higher fee than his rivals due to his age.
Bony’s stunning breakthrough at Swansea lead to a big-money move to the Etihad.
However, he failed to recapture his best form in Manchester.
Fernando Llorente, 31
Spanish striker sensationally fell off the boil after moving to Juventus.
Llorente burst onto the scene at Athletic Bilbao when his goals helped eliminate Manchester United from the Europa League in 2012.
He netted 29 goals that season but scored just five the next before moving to Italy.
But he failed to really produce his best form in Serie A and soon lost his place in the side.
Llorente returned to Spain with Sevilla — netting just seven and was an unused sub in the Europa League final victory over Liverpool.
He was part of Spain’s 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012-winning squads — playing just 30 minutes overall.
Edin Dzeko, 30
Burst onto the scene in Germany as his goals led Wolfsburg to the only Bundesliga title in their history in 2009.
Continued the trend at City where he helped end 44 years without league success three years later.
Dzeko netted 50 Premier League goals in 130 games over four-and-a-half seasons at the club.
Joined Roma last summer and enjoyed an up-and-down campaign in Serie A.