5 players Barcelona must target during the winter transfer window
Last season was pretty much a disaster for Barcelona. Their arch-rivals, Real Madrid won both the La Liga and the UEFA Champions League while the Blaugranas got only a single piece of silverware, the Copa Del Rey, for all their efforts. Adding to their misery, Neymar left Camp Nou for Paris Saint-Germain.
Following Neymar's departure, Barca president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, signed Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund for a hefty price, but the young winger picked up an injury after barely a month. Another signing, Gerard Deulofeu, has also failed to meet the level of expectations.
So, the winter transfer window is really important for the Catalan club as they need to solve some serious issues present in the squad. Ernesto Valverde has done really well to guide the club to top spot in the La Liga and into the Round of 16 in the UCL, but no one knows how this Barca squad would react when in a bad run of form. So, here are the five players Barcelona must try to sign during the winter transfer window.
#5 Adrien Rabiot
Last summer, Barcelona tried hard to lure Marco Verratti to the Camp Nou. However, their pursuit did not bear any fruit as PSG didn't let the Italian go. In the winter transfer window, Barcelona can instead turn their attention to a teammate of Verratti - Adrien Rabiot.
Rabiot can be persuaded to sign for Blaugranas will little effort as he might be looking for a move away from the Parc Des Princes. PSG might also sell him if offered a good amount of money since they have ample options in midfield in the form of Javier Pastore and Hatem Ben Arfa and are looking for some postive cashflow after spending hundreds of millions on Mbappe and Neymar.
Being just 22 years old, Rabiot can be the perfect man for Barcelona and can command the Barca midfield for a decade to come. Rabiot can be a long-term replacement of Sergio Busquets and will be a available at a much cheaper price than Verratti.
He will perfectly fit into the Barca system as a defensive midfielder. Rabiot might be playing more as a proper centre midfielder in PSG but if we look at his defensive abilities and stats, he can be perfectly moulded as a defensive midfielder.
Barcelona lacks quality options when it comes to defensive midfield other than Sergio Busquets. Rafinha, Denis Suarez, Arda Turan, Andre Gomes and Paulinho are no doubt skilled in the art of passing and holding possession but they are not that solid defensively.
At present, the 'Centre Defensive Midfield' position is extremely important in every formation, as it is the duty of the CDM to block the passing lanes during the opposition attacks. Therefore, Rabiot can be highly valuable for Barcelona as he has both the attacking and the defensive prowess.
Coming to the stats, the numbers speak of Rabiot's brilliance on the pitch. Rabiot made 2.2 tackles, 1.8 interceptions and 0.5 key passes (all per game) last season. He also records a passing accuracy of 89.9%. He beats Sergio Busquets in all attributes except tackles and they have the same number of passes per game.
Barca legend, Xavi Hernandez has also marked Adrien Rabiot as the perfect man for Barca's midfield. It's hard to find a reason why Barca officials are still not making a move for the Frenchman.