Barcelona are set to complete the signing of Spanish striker Paco Alcacer after the player arrived for a medical on Monday. Barcelona will be paying fellow La Liga team Valencia about £27 Million for the 22-year-old according to reports.
Alcacer was excluded from Valencia's team that lost 1-0 to Eibar this week. The Spanish club's manager Pako Ayestaran said that the player was not in an ideal situation to compete. Although the Spanish manager didn't directly say anything about his transfer, it was clear that the striker is set to join Barcelona.
Paco Alcacer will be signing a five-year deal with the Catalans on Monday before joining Spain for international duty according to Barcelona-based newspaper Mundo Deportivo. The striker is expected to be officially unveiled after he returns from International duty next week.
The Spanish player is a product of the Valencia Youth system who have created many other such talents. Alcacer came through the ranks of Valencia youth system before making his debut for the senior team in 2010 at the age of 16.
The 22-year-old made his La Liga debut on 12th January 2012 coming on as a substitute for Sofiane Feghouli against Real Sociedad. Alcacer then joined Getafe on loan for the 2012-13 season. His first La Liga goal came with Getafe. The Spaniard scored a total of four goals from 24 appearances that season. The youngster returned to his parent club at the end of the season and has been with them Since them.
Alcacer has scored a total of 43 goals for Valencia from his 123 appearances and for the past three seasons he scored a minimum of 14 goals for the club which shows his consistency.
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The 22-year-old has also represented all of Spain's youth levels from U-16 to U-21. With the U-17 side, he reached the final at the 2010 UEFA European Championship and also was crowned as the tournament's top scorer. In addition to that he won the European U-19 Championship twice in 2011 and 2012.
The soon to be Barcelona player made his senior team debut for Spain on 4th September coming on as a substitute against France. Alcacer made his first start for the national team just four days later against Macedonia scoring a goal and also providing an assist. Alcacer has now scored a total of six goals from 13 appearances at International level.
Barcelona identified the 22-year-old striker as the perfect backup for their big front three, which consists of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar, and decided to sign him for a fee of £27Million. Alcacer, on the other hand, will be hoping to learn a lot from three of the world's best football players.
