Boateng close to Barcelona loan

Barcelona are understood to be on the verge of signing former Tottenham, AC Milan and Schalke attacking midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng from Serie A side Sassuolo. A report by Sky in Italy claims the 31-year-old will travel to Barcelona on Monday to conclude a loan switch until the end of the season, with an €8million option to make the move permanent.

Barca head coach Ernesto Valverde has been looking for attacking reinforcements as cover for Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele – the latter now facing two weeks on the sidelines with a sprained left ankle. Munir El Haddadi joined Sevilla this month, while Paco Alcacer left for Borussia Dortmund during the previous transfer window, leaving the reigning LaLiga champions light up front.

Valverde batted back questions over a purported interest in LAFC's Carlos Vela over the weekend, while Mundo Deportivo touted veteran Monaco striker Radamel Falcao as an option. Boateng would represent an even more leftfield move than those two, although he did enjoy a successful season in LaLiga with Las Palmas in 2016-17 on the back of his second stint at Milan – scoring 10 times in 28 matches.

 

January 20, 2019

A campaign with Eintracht Frankfurt, Boateng's fourth Bundesliga club, followed before he joined Sassuolo. Boateng has been deployed as a false nine by Sassuolo and completed 90 minutes in Saturday's 0-0 draw against Inter at San Siro. He has four goals in 13 games this term.