Barcelona are reportedly closely following the progress of 17-year-old San Jose Earthquakes forward Cade Cowell, who is making quite the noise in MLS.
According to a report from Goal.com, La Liga heayweights Barcelona are interested in teenage Mexican-American forward Cade Cowell, who plies his trade for Major League Soccer outfit San Jose Earthquakes.
Cowell started out at the academy of Ballistic United Soccer Club before making the switch to San Jose Earthquakes’ youth setup in 2018. The young forward broke into the first-team in 2019, making his debut in a US Open Cup clash against Sacramento Republic FC before he was loaned out to Reno 1868 FC for a short spell, during which he made just four appearances, scoring one goal.
Back with the Quakes, Cowell featured fairly regularly in the 2020 campaign, making 19 appearances in which he managed just the one goal and an assist to go along with it. However, having worked hard on his game during the off-season, the teenage forward has made an explosive start to the 2021 campaign in the US.
So far in the ongoing MLS season, Cowell has featured six times, in which he has already scored two goals and setting up three more, with his sensational strike against D.C. United making the onlookers stand up and take notice of the youngster’s natural ability and potential. And, as per the aforementioned report, Barcelona are interested in the the teenage striker.
Barcelona’s disappointing 2020/21 campaign came to an end on Saturday with the Catalans finishing third in La Liga, although they did win the Copa del Rey. However, a major overhaul could be on the cards at Camp Nou, especially in the centre-forward department as well as defence. Having let go of Luis Suarez last summer, Barcelona did not bring in a replacement which came back to haunt them big time this year.
While they are now set to address that by signing Sergio Aguero on a free transfer, the Argentine is already 32 and is not a long-term option. In addition, question marks continue to linger over the future of Antoine Griezmann, while the contract situation of club captain Lionel Messi remains unresolved.
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So, attacking reinforcements become mandatory in the summer, with Memphis Depay also expected to join the Cules on a free transfer. That being said, adding another young striker with talent, who can be groomed to take over from the likes of Aguero in a couple of years’ time would make sense for Barcelona, which would explain their interest in Cowell.
It, however, remains to be seen if Barcelona do decide to act on their reported interest in the 17-year-old this summer or continue to monitor his progress for now before swooping for him sometime in the future.
