Barcelona Transfer News: Latest on Paco Alcacer and Lionel Messi Rumours

Valencia manager Pako Ayestaran has said that Paco Alcacer will not be sold to Barcelona this summer.

Per Goal's Cesar Hurtado, the Spaniard spoke on Monday about his in-demand players, including Alcacer and Arsenal target Shkodran Mustafi: "Mustafi is not for sale and will not be leaving the club. With Alcacer I can be as firm as with Mustafi, [club president] Lay Hoon already said it. The president has said in public that Alcacer and Mustafi are not for sale and I have to believe her."

Valencia's reluctance to part with the striker is understandable, as demonstrated by Spanish football expert Sergi Dominguez:

Barca are in the market for another forward to provide cover for Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Alcacer would likely be a strong option—at 22, he still has room to grow but is already well on his way to becoming an excellent player.

The youngster scored 15 goals and provided eight assists last season despite Los Che struggling for much of the campaign—at the Camp Nou, surrounded by creative and clinical players in equal measure, those returns could easily get even better.

While it's unlikely he can unseat any of the forward trio, he would likely still get plenty of opportunities to shine as manager Luis Enrique rests and rotates his players over the course of a long season.

Football journalists Dermot Corrigan and Rafael Hernandez believe Alcacer would be an outstanding buy:

Despite Valencia's need to offload players in order to comply with financial fair play regulations, they're determined to keep hold of their best and brightest.

While Barca's front three are evidently capable of firing the club to success with little back-up, playing virtually every game of a campaign on multiple fronts does take its toll—it's important that another is brought in to share the load.

Meanwhile, Messi's former club Newell's Old Boys are harbouring ambitions of bringing the Argentinian back after the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

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According to Sport's Veronica Brunati, that is the objective of a project launched by the hierachy of the club, which intends to "finance the deal with the backing of private companies" while negotiations between Messi and Newell's are "at an advanced stage."

Vice-president Cristian D'Amico is confident of pulling off the sensational deal, as he added: "We are going to have the pleasure of seeing him play here."

In April, the 29-year-old told Urban Planet (h/t FourFourTwo) he would "love" to play for the club at which he spent his youth.

As noted by Hernandez following Barca's Spanish Super Cup success earlier in August, Messi has achieved just about everything there is to achieve with the Catalan giants:

However, Messi will only be 31 at the conclusion of the World Cup and will still be considered among the best in the world.

He may well return to his hometown and rejoin Newell's one day, but 2018 seems too early, since he will still be at—or close to—the peak of his powers.