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We have reached the mid-section of the current campaign and all European elite leagues, namely the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, the German Bundesliga and the French Ligue 1 have all played between 17 to 19 matches already.
Following the festive season comes the winter transfer window and many European elite clubs have started assessing their respective squads as they prepare to reinforce in January - including Spanish champions, FC Barcelona.
The Blaugrana have made the headlines during the past few weeks, with reports linking them with a host of players including Ajax duo Matijths De Ligt and Frankie De Jong, Paris Saint Germain's Adrien Rabbot, Chelsea's Andreas Christensen, Liverpool's Roberto Firmino as well Manchester City veteran, Vincent Kompany.
Considering the reports, it looks like Barcelona are keen to add more strength to their squad in the winter. However, it would be a better decision for the Catalan giants to refrain from making any signings in January and below are 3 reasons why:
#3. Squad depth
Having invested enormously during the past few transfer windows, Barcelona currently has one of the strongest squads in Europe at the moment, with highly talented superstars in all areas of the pitch, as well as promising talents, rising from the youth system.
The Catalans have Ousmane Dembele, Philipe Coutinho, Malcolm and Munir El Haddadi fighting for a place in attack alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez while Arturo Vidal, Denis Suarez and Carles Alena continue to battle for opportunities in the middle of the pitch which has been well filled with the likes of Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Arthur Melo.
The absence of Thomas Vermaelen and Samuel Umtiti has left Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet as the only options at centre-back but the loan signing of Jesion Murillo will provide enough support in that department for the meantime while the versatile Sergi Roberto, Jordi Alba, Nelson Semedo and Juan Miranda continue to feature as fullbacks.
With such a rich squad under their ranks, it wouldn't be a wise decision from the Catalan giants if they decide to sign players in January.
#2. The growth of youth talents
Apart from the impressive results and the decent performances so far this season, another thing that is actually getting Barcelona fans excited at the moment is the steady rise of youth talents at the Nou Camp who has been knocking the door for opportunities during the past few weeks.
The likes of Denis Suarez, Carles Alena, and Ruqui Puig are home-grown talents who dominated the headlines a few weeks ago with their wonderful performances and incredible understanding of the game while the likes of Chumi, Juan Miranda and Oriol Busquets have also impressed during opportune moments so far during the term.
With the youth system looking promising once again, Barcelona should refrain from acquiring players from the transfer market in January as that would create unnecessary competition within the squad which would eventually be a roadblock to the development of the exciting talents coming from the youth setup.
#1. Recent spendings and wage demands
Only a very few clubs in Europe can be compared with FC Barcelona when it comes to analyzing and contrasting how much they splashed on the acquisition of players recently.
The club has spent heavily during the past few transfer windows, evidently coughing out around €300 million on the acquisition of both Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho before spending over €130 million on the likes of Arthur Melo, Arturo Vidal, Clement Lenglet and Malcolm during the summer.
Considering the big sum of money the club splashed out on signings recently and the huge salary demands at the Nou Camp at the moment, it would be an unwise decision for the club to make more signings in January, not to talk about the threat posed by Financial Fair Play regulations (FFP).
