Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde is blessed with plenty of options this season, but reports claim he could be ready to offload a trio of players considered surplus to requirements.
The 53-year-old will be pleased with how things have gone thus far in his first season in charge of the Catalan giants, as they sit top of the La Liga table and their Champions League group.
Naturally, much can change as there’s a long way to go this season, but ultimately the early signs are positive and he’s got quality and depth in his squad to sustain their charge.
However, according to Sport, Barcelona are open to offloading three fringe players in Arda Turan, Paco Alcacer and Rafinha, and while it’s suggested that they were set to leave next summer, if the right offers arrive in January, they could be leaving the Nou Camp sooner than expected.
Further, Sport believe that Turan will command a fee of around €20m, while Alcacer cost Barca €30m and they’ll undoubtedly want to recoup as much of that figure as possible given he’s still only 24 and considered a top talent.
It’s unclear at this stage as to whether they’ll get what they’re after, but ultimately you can understand why they would want to cash in on these three given that they’re not exactly considered key pieces in the current squad and their teammates have fared pretty well without them so far this year.
Rafinha has yet to play this season after sustaining a knee injury, and so his recovery will likely determine if he gets a January move. Meanwhile, Turan also has an injury but hasn’t been taken into consideration this season while Alcacer has fared the best of the trio with three games but no goals to his name in 122 minutes of action.
That tells you all you need to know as to whether Barcelona really need these three, and if they can bring in a decent amount of money through their respective sales, it will ultimately arm them with further funds to reinforce the squad in January.