Barcelona will reportedly look to prioritise offloading players in January as they look to raise funds and balance their books.
The Catalan giants are enjoying a strong start to the season, albeit it hasn’t been entirely convincing in terms of performances and early results.
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Nevertheless, they now sit top of the La Liga table and their Champions League group, and so coach Ernesto Valverde will be relatively pleased with what he’s seen thus far.
With a strong squad and depth in key positions to now compete on multiple fronts, he’ll arguably be happy with the balance found in his side, and that in turn could now allow the club hierarchy to focus on axing those who are perhaps considered surplus to requirements.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are looking to raise €124m, and with question marks over Philippe Coutinho’s move to Bayern Munich becoming permanent, they may have to look at alternative options.
Carles Alena, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal are specifically named as those who could be in line to be moved on, with the report adding that there’s interest in the midfield trio which would certainly make it easier to find agreements with rival clubs.
Nevertheless, time will tell if moves will materialise, but it seems as though if there is to be transfer activity at the Nou Camp in the New Year, then it will be outgoings rather than incomings as the reigning La Liga champions look to trim the squad.
Given the presence of the likes of Arthur, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong and others to play in midfield, it seems sensible to look at the names mentioned above as possible candidates to be moved on.
That said, Barcelona will need to be careful that they don’t lose important options and depth to weaken the squad in the second half of the campaign too.
