Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar is a shock target for Barcelona ahead of the January market.

Marca says Barca are actively exploring the prospect of signing Oscar from China's Shanghai SIPG. Driving the deal is the success of Paulinho after his stunning impact since joining in August from Guangzhou Evergrande.

Oscar is being viewed as an alternative to Liverpool ace Philippe Coutinho.

The big stumbling block is Shanghai SPIG's likely asking price. Oscar only left Chelsea a year ago for a fee of €61m and is currently on a salary of €24m.