When we talk about the best strikers in the world, Paco Alcácer’s name never seems to enter the conversation. However, rarely does a weekend go by where the Spaniard doesn’t register his name on the scoresheet. Now on loan at Borussia Dortmund, the 25-year-old is taking the Bundesliga by storm with his clinical nature. For Dortmund fans it’s great, but his form has raised a couple of eyebrows across the footballing world, especially in Catalonia.
Were Barcelona justified to loan out Paco Alcácer?
Seeing as Luis Enrique was the one who signed the 25-year-old for Barcelona, Ernesto Valverde has made it evidently clear that he was not a player he bought. Last season, Valverde only afforded Alcácer 992 minutes of football, limiting the forward to mainly substitute cameos. In response, in order to save his career, Alcácer has joined Borussia Dortmund on loan with the option for the move to be made permanent at the end of the season.
Across his career, Paco Alcácer has played for a plethora of teams including; Valencia, Getafe, Barcelona and now Borussia Dortmund. In addition, he’s represented his country on 10 separate occasions. At just 25 years of age, the forward has racked up 189 games equating to 7971 minutes of football, in that time, he’s directly contributed to 88 goals, a ratio better than 1 in 2.
Paco Alcácer is on fire!
In just 204 minutes of football this season, Alcácer has scored 10 goals and assisted 8 times for both club and country. In just 3 substitute appearances for Dortmund, Alcácer has scored 6 goals. Three of those goals came in a dramatic 30-minute hattrick against FC Augsburg, where the 25-year-old came off the bench to win the game 3-2 for his new club.
In 81 minutes of Bundesliga football, the Spaniard has averaged 3.3 shots per game, showing that he’s become much more confident in a Dortmund shirt. Meanwhile, life in Barcelona for his fellow attackers has been less than fruitful.
Luis Suárez is simply not firing
La Liga Champions Barcelona currently sit 3rd in the league, having only scored 19 goals in 8 games. Last season, they lost only 1 game all campaign, this season they’ve already matched that total and look set to increase that tally. Can you believe that the mighty Barcelona are currently on a four-game winless streak in La Liga? Why? Because they can’t score goals.
So, having said that, was it a wise move to let your second-choice striker leave the club for the season? At 31 years of age, Luis Suárez is nearing the end of his career and perhaps with that age goes his clinical nature. In 8 league games this season, the Uruguayan has only scored 3 goals, a return Alcácer has doubled, in fewer minutes. With an option like Paco Alcácer on the bench, it’s a guarantee that Barcelona’s form would be much better. For Valverde not to realise the importance of having such an option, only puts more of a strain on his poor start to the campaign. It’s only a matter of time before the Barca fans start to become more vocal about their displeasure to Valverde’s management of the league champions.
