DESPERATE Barcelona are closing in on Getafe super-sub Angel as an emergency signing outside the transfer window – after Ousmane Dembele joined Luis Suarez on the Nou Camp crock list.
Spanish football chiefs can give the La Liga champs special permission to bring in new players as Dembele picked up a long-term injury after the window shut.
Barca‘s only fit frontmen are Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and 17-year-old Ansu Fati after they failed to land Everton’s Brazil attacker Richarlison, Arsenal skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Valencia’s Rodrigo last week.
Spaniard Angel, 32, has helped Getafe to third in the table with six goals, despite only six starts.
And his Europa league record is almost as impressive, three strikes after starting four times.
Goal say Angel is the man Barcelona want – with a reported buyout clause of just £8.5million – although Getafe president Angel Torres Sanchez has declined to discuss the matter.
Among other forwards considered were 26-year-old Real Betis ace Loren Moron and Girona’s Uruguay and ex-Middlesbrough man Cristhian Stuani, 33.
There was even speculation Barcelona would turn to Spain legend David Villa, 38, who now plays for Japan’s Vissel Kobe alongside another Nou Camp hero in Andres Iniesta.
Barca boss Quique Setien has remained positive, despite frontline problems and trailing La Liga leaders Real Madrid by three points.
The former Betis boss, who only took over at the Nou Camp last month, is quoted by the Mail as saying: “I’ve had set-backs all my career.
“I know all clubs have problem but I have to concentrate on the football.”
Meanwhile, French World Cup winner Dembele, 22, faces several more months out, having torn a hamstring in training this week after not playing since November.
