Barcelona eye Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus as possible Luis Suarez replacement, per report

Watch Now: What Does Barcelona Look Like Without Messi? (1:59)

Barcelona hope to replace aging striker Luis Suarez with young Brazilian talent Gabriel Jesus, who currently plays for Manchester City, per a report from Globo. Suarez has already been told that he is not in new manager Ronald Koeman’s plans for next season, and is being linked with returns to his former club Ajax and MLS.

Naturally, the appeal of the young striker is, well, the age difference between him and Suarez. The Uruguayan striker is 33 years old while his potential replacement is a whole decade younger at 23. While Jesus may not have scored as many goals this past season as the Barcelona star, that’s just something that can be attributed to the depth and scoring versatility of Manchester City that Barcelona simply didn’t have during that same period. Jesus scored 14 goals this past season, Suarez scored 21.

This appears to have been spearheaded by the appointment of Koeman as a new manager, who seems focused on making major changes not just at forward, but also throughout the first team as Messi seems set to leave the club. As ESPN noted in a transfer talk roundup, Barcelona are said to have already made contact with the English club about the availability of their young striker.

City, meanwhile, have been preparing for Messi’s potential arrival at the club. They’ve been making calculations to make sure they could bring him in without breaking financial fair play rules, and Pep Guardiola — Messi’s former Barcelona manager — has reportedly spoken to players about this move.