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#3 End star culture at Barcelona and reduce player power
For a very long time now, Barcelona have had stars who could hold the club ransom when it comes to business. Neymar's much talked about move to Paris Saint-Germain to break out of Leo Messi's shadow definitely exhibited elements of the star culture that's prevalent at Barcelona.
In such environments, players put themselves before the club and this is quite evident from the way Lionel Messi has been going vocal about his annoyance with the club and how they've been handling things. That Barcelona is being poorly run is now known to everybody because someone as big as Lionel Messi has openly spoken about it.
While in the short-term such reactionary steps taken by players might help force changes, in the long-run, it hampers a club's legacy. Barcelona need to show that the club is bigger than the players and selling Lionel Messi would be a positive step in that regard.
#2 Last chance for Barcelona to cash in on Messi
Lionel Messi is now in the final year of his contract and he will be a free agent next summer if he chooses not to sign a new deal. The way things are going, it doesn't look like there's any chance that Lionel Messi will put pen to paper on a new contract.
Hence, this January transfer window gives Barcelona the last chance to cash in on this generational talent. Barcelona can raise a lot of money through selling Messi and they could reinvest it to sign maybe two or three top quality players. That's how much he would be worth.
If they do not sell him in the January transfer window, then they run the risk of losing him on a free and that'd a bizarre amount of money lost.
#1 Give their other signings a chance to thrive
For any attacker who joins Barcelona's ranks, they are immediately held to the same scale that Messi is. Given how prolific the Argentine is, almost everyone except for Neymar and Suarez have struggled to replicate such numbers. And they're immediately written off.
This has happened in the case of Coutinho and Griezmann. Also, the focus has never really been on them. This could also be one of the reasons why Ousmane Dembele suffers from disciplinary issues on top of his injury concerns. There is simply not enough attention given to them to help them come through.
The likes of Coutinho, Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele have played under the shadow of Messi till now and it could make a world of difference to them if all of a sudden they become the ones that have to lead this Barcelona side.
Also, it makes much more sense, from a business perspective, to sell a 33-year-old than players like Dembele or Griezmann who still have time to revitalize their careers.
