Barca's current roaming front three of Messi, Pedro and David Villa are nominally wingers, and even Villa, the "striker" brought in from Valencia, often plays in a wide position.

For a long time, Barcelona's main target has been David Villa but Valencia revealed that they rejected a bid in midweek and that could have forced the Catalan club to look elsewhere.

Whether they are now hoping that news of bids going in to other clubs will persuade Villa to act independently or force Valencia into a re-think is unclear.