Top Five Players Who Can Leave Barcelona in January
Barcelona have been far from their best this season, languishing in midtable and out of the Champions League. Before the January window, Xavi and his backroom staff will be having some serious discussions at Camp Nou.
It has been dubbed an 'exit operation' as the Catalan club will have to clear individuals off the books in order to make two signings in the January transfer window.
As many as five players might be released in the January transfer window. This will allow Barcelona to gain income from sales while simultaneously freeing up wage bill space to sign new players and comply with La Liga's salary cap laws. Let's take a closer look at those five players.
#1 Phillipe Coutinho
In January 2018, the Brazilian playmaker joined the Catalan club from Liverpool for a reported fee of €135 million, a record fee for an English club.
The Brazilian has mostly been on the sidelines since joining the club due to injury. He has been mostly injury-free this season but is yet to make an impact at the Camp Nou. The Brazilian has scored only two goals in his 12 appearances in La Liga. Coutinho was offered to both Manchester City and Manchester United in a swap arrangement involving Raheem Sterling or Ferran Torres and Anthony Martial.
Coutinho now has one month to convince Xavi and if he doesn't manage to do so, he'll be placed on the transfer market in January. [sport]
Coutinho has only started four of the Blaugrana's 16 matches this season and despite the departure of a number of star players, he remains a minor figure at the club. It's unlikely he'll have the chance to persuade Xavi to change his mind before the January transfer window opens.
#2 Yusuf Demir
Yusuf Demir is being tipped to leave Barcelona in the January transfer window to cut short his season-long loan move from Rapid Vienna.
Demir progressed through the ranks at the Austrian club before making his debut at the age of 16. In 38 first-team appearances, the teenage prodigy scored nine goals and added four assists, attracting interest from clubs all over Europe. Last summer, however, Barcelona beat the rest of the competition to the punch.
The teenager was promoted from the Barcelona B team to the first team upon joining. The Blaugrana have the option of signing Demir for €10 million, but they want the youngster's loan to end in January.
🔄 (DEMIR): Barcelona will return Yusuf Demir to Rapid Vienna in January and will not execute the purchase option of €10m.
• His future looks to be in the Bundesliga with Dortmund, Leverkusen and Eintracht interested in the player.
#FCB 🇦🇹
Via (🟠): Lluís Miguelsanz [Sport] https://t.co/m5xLgl38e2
Demir's last game was a goalless draw against Benfica in the Champions League. The youngster is being pursued by a number of Bundesliga clubs, including Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Frankfurt.
Barcelona are out of the Champions League, scoring only two goals and conceding nine goals in six matches.