A striking absence

There were always signs that this might happen. Barcelona will resume training on Monday and its pre-season will begin shortly afterwards, with no sign of a natural centre forward unless it can pick up a bargain in the final days of the transfer window – something which seems unlikely.

The target man has been a dying breed in Catalonia in recent years – specifically, since Guardiola opted to play a false 9 in the form of Leo Messi. It occurred to Pep to try out the idea one day at the Bernabéu. He took off Eto'o and positioned the Argentine slightly deeper in the centre of the attacking line.

The tactical change worked wonders, giving the 'Azulgranas' a clear victory, and was gradually implemented from that moment on. This risky decision turned out to be disastrous for the centre forwards who have formed part of the Barça ranks in recent years.

The first to go was Samuel Eto'o, but Ibrahimovic, Bojan and Villa also suffered the effects of this tactical shake-up brought in by Guardiola and nourished by the fact that Messi refused to let anyone stand him up when it comes to scoring goals.

However, although Barcelona has continued to play with a false 9, there has always been at least one natural target man in the squad. Until now, that is.