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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.
#4 Aymeric Laporte
Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano are past their prime. Pique is lacking consistency and is getting exposed against pacy forwards while Javier Mascherano is not being favoured by Ernesto Valverde. So, the Catalans need a good centre-back to play alongside Samuel Umtiti and Athletic Bilbao man, Aymeric Laporte is the perfect man Barcelona needs.
Barcelona prefers building their attack from the back. So a centre-back at Barca needs to have crisp passing ability. Laporte exactly does that and a 85% passing accuracy in the 2016-17 season justifies that.
Coming to his defensive abilities, he is rock solid in the backline with an average of 2.2 tackles and 2.3 interceptions per game. Currently aged 23 years, he can form a formidable defensive partnership with Samuel Umtiti for atleast the next 10 years.
He is already in plenty of demand for his defensive and passing abilities. Barcelona was heavily linked with Laporte during the summer transfer window and the deal was even said to be almost done. However, that never happened for unknown reasons. It is highly expected that Barcelona will sign this defender just after the transfer window begins and his arrival will end the defensive woes of the Blaugranas.
#3 Thiago Alcantara
La Masia graduate, Thiago Alcantara, is the perfect player to fill the void left by Xavi Hernandez. Thiago played in the Barcelona first team from 2009 to 2013 and then made a move to Bayern Munich along with Pep Guardiola.
Thiago had been instrumental in Bayern's domestic success since 2013. He, along with Xabi Alonso and Arturo Vidal, dictated the game in Bayern's favour from the midfield. However, with the arrival of James Rodriguez and Corentin Tolisso, he will have to fight for his place in the starting eleven. Thiago made 7 league starts this season out of 15 Bundesliga games and made 3 starts out of 6 UCL games.
Thiago's passing is crisp and has a great vision. The Spaniard made 65.6 passes with an accuracy of 91% and 1.7 key passes (all per game) in the last season. He has the ability of Xavi to decide when to retain possession, when to pass to teammates and when to try for a goal. Besides incredible passing, the Bayern man also has an eye for scoring goals and he scored 8 goals last season and also assisted 8 to his teammates.
When Thiago played in Barcelona, he was considered as the natural heir to Xavi at the Camp Nou and through this years he has proved that the hype surrounding him was justified. Many Barcelona fans still laments the decision of the club to sell the player.
#2 Philippe Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho is a versatile player who can play as a left winger or even an attacking midfielder. Barcelona tried to sign this Liverpool man as Neymar's replacement after he left for Paris. However, Coutinho can be the perfect successor of Iniesta and not Neymar at the Camp Nou.
Jurgen Kloop used Coutinho as an attacking midfielder in the last season of the Premier League. He adapted to his new role in a brilliant way and played beautiful football down the middle, providing forward passes to the strikers, making darting runs with the ball as well as off it.
He was a constant threat for the opposition defence as he possesses all the ability to be a attacking midfielder of the highest order. You name the attribute and he has got it - crisp ground passes, incisive through balls, runs and dribbles down the middle and accurate long shots, he has everything.
Coutinho is in brilliant form this season in the Premier League and the UCL. He has already scored 9 goals and provided 6 assists in 12 appearances. Andres Iniesta is close to the end of his prime and its high time Barcelona signs someone who can fill the void of Iniesta for years to come.
#1 Antoine Griezmann
Griezmann's transfer has been speculated since the last summer transfer window. The Frenchman was bound to join the Manchester United, however the transfer didn't happen as Mourinho opted for Lukaku instead.
The man famous for his 'Hotline Bling' celebration had made 23 appearances this year and netted 10 goals in the process. His numbers may not seem insane because the entire Atletico Madrid team is not performing as per their standards. There must be no doubt regarding the goal-scoring and positioning ability of this forward. Be it for the club or for his nation, he has delivered whenever his team needed a goal.
Barcelona must give it all they've got and try to secure the services of Antoine Griezmann as Luis Suarez has been in poor form this season. Ernesto Valverde needs a quality striker other than Luis Suarez because Paco Alcacer is not yet ready for high pressure matches. Taking into consideration, Griezmann can also play as a withdrawn forward or attacking midfielder he will be highly valuable for Barcelona.
Griezmann taking the responsibility of the attacking midfield will mean Messi can operate from his favourite right wing positon, where the little man from Argentina is the deadliest. Griezmann is ready for a move away from the Los Rojiblancos and Barcelona needs to be quick and capitalise on the situation because many others clubs including Manchester United and Real Madrid are trying to have his signature.
