Rumour Mill: East Bengal eyeing Paraguayan forward Javier Acuna?

The Red and Gold Brigade recently parted ways with their two key forwards in Enrique Esqueda and Jobby Justin.

According to rumors at Maidan, East Bengal have initiated talks with Paraguayan forward Javier Acuna in an attempt to replace star striker Enrique Esqueda.

The I-League runners up East Bengal are back from their brief hiatus and have started building their team for the new campaign. Last season's talisman Jobby Justin parted ways with the club to join Indian Super League side, ATK. Whereas his Mexican strike partner Enrique Esqueda also left after the I-League campaign.

Watch: Javier Acuna has vast experience of playing for some top European clubs

East Bengal are in dire need of a goalscorer who can handle the pressure of the fans and also find the back of the net consistently. The Red and Gold Brigade will weight all their options before finalizing their target and Acuna is a player whom they are considering as of now.

Javier Acuna is a player with a lot of substance and at 30, he is very experienced. The Paraguayan forward has featured for clubs like Real Madrid Castilla, Recreativo, Girona, Watford and Udinese. He was amongst the Paraguay U-20 and U-17 sides and was also named in the senior national team camp, but fell short at the final hurdle for the Los Guaraníes.

Acuna currently plies his trade for Albacete in the Spanish second tier. The veteran forward is no stranger to East Bengal boss Alejandro, Menendez as the duo worked together at Real Madrid Castilla for some time, although Acuna spent most of the time on loan stints away from the Spanish capital.

With everything said and done, Acuna has not been in the best of form recently, having scored only twice in 25 appearances in the Segunda Division. With both goals coming against Mallorca in the same fixture. However, his team Albacete have been on a roll, currently securing the second spot in the league table and are very close to promotion to La Liga next season.

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If the deal goes through it coould be the perfect headstart for the Red and Gold Brigade for the rest of the season. However, in that case, Acuna will have to hit the rights chords from the start, as both Justin and Esqueda combined to score 18 goals last season in the I-League. Hence, if the deal goes through there will be considerable amount of pressure on the former Castilla man to turn up when his team needs him the most.

With Menendez  having prior working experience with Acuna, things may go through smoother than expected. But, the deal is still in its initial stages and it depends on the player and the Spanish tactician to take the call on the matter.