Barcelona Transfer News: Latest on Ricardo Oliveira and Nolito Rumours

Santos striker Ricardo Oliveira has rubbished recent rumours linking him with a surprise January move to Barcelona.  

Per ESPN (via Goal.com's Samuel Marsden), the 35-year-old said he laughed at suggestions that Barca were looking to add him to their squad in the new year as backup for Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar: "Santos’s fans, my team-mates and the club itself know that [the Barcelona rumours] are not true. I laughed when I saw these stories, but I took the precaution of making a statement just to clarify that there has been no contact."

Oliveira is enjoying a renaissance of sorts, having netted 19 times in 29 league games for Santos this term, per WhoScored.com.

He earned a recall to the Brazil national team, and he found the back of the net in their recent clash with Venezuela. 

BBC Sport's Tim Vickery described him as the best Brazilian striker currently available, although that is far from the compliment it has been in the past:

But as far as a move to Barca goes, it always seemed a far-fetched prospect that the Champions League holders would be eyeing Oliveira.

He could undoubtedly do a job given his previous La Liga experience with Valencia, Real Betis and Real Zaragoza.

However, while injuries to Messi and Rafinha—and the summer sale of Pedro—have revealed a worrying lack of depth in Barca's attack, the addition of Oliveira would only ever be a short-term fix.

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A much more realistic January target for Barcelona is Celta Vigo's in-form forward Nolito, who has been widely linked with a move to the Camp Nou, per Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo (h/t the MailOnline's Nicholas Godden). 

The 29-year-old, who previously played for Barcelona before his departure in 2011, has been immense for Celta in the new campaign and would be a terrific creative addition for the Catalans, per OptaJose:

According to Sky Sports' Guillem Balague, Barca manager Luis Enrique is eager to sign Nolito, but the club's hierarchy have some reservations concerning the financial viability of the deal: "Luis Enrique wants the club to go for him but Barcelona want to sort out a deal for Qatar and guarantee its future before they put the €18 million (£13 million) Nolito will cost down. It would be a good decision if he were to go to the Camp Nou."

Spanish football writer Rafael Hernandez shed more light on the situation:

January will be Barca's first opportunity to register new players since they were hit with a two-window FIFA ban.

Summer signings Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan will finally be eligible to play, and Messi should have returned from injury by then.

However, they still look to be lacking depth in attack, especially considering they will be battling for trophies both domestically and in Europe.

Nolito would seemingly be an ideal signing, but it is unclear whether Barca can afford to bring him into the Camp Nou.