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After enduring a 2-8 humbling against eventual champions Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals last season, Barcelona endured their first trophyless season in more than a decade.
Barcelona squandered a slender lead atop the La Liga table to arch-rivals Real Madrid in the post-lockdown restart; the Blaugrana suffered elimination in the Copa Del Rey quarter-finals and were beaten in the semi-finals of the Super Copa de Espana.
Clearly, something had to give as it was a remarkably indifferent season for a club of such rich pedigree and history. Barcelona knew there were issues galore, both on and off the field, that led to their spectacular fall from grace: an ageing squad and a porous defence, to name a few.
The cracks in the squad had suddenly become too gaping for the singular brilliance of Lionel Messi to paper over. And of course, the manager was shown the boot, and former player Ronald Koeman was ushered in as the new one.
As a painful summer of introspection for Barcelona lay ahead, the club's woes exacerbated when the unthinkable happened: captain and talisman Lionel Messi expressed his desire to leave the club.
It was Messi of all people - the player who has only played for one professional club - Barcelona; Messi, who is one of the last vestiges of the rapidly dwindling true one-club player in the modern game. Much to Barcelona's eventual relief, Messi agreed to see out the one remaining year of his contract.
6 players who may leave Barcelona in the January transfer window
The Messi situation is resolved for now but with a new manager at the helm, the road ahead for Barcelona was always going to be a tricky one.
It got trickier still as the COVID-19 pandemic wrecked the finances of the club. That essentially meant that a huge squad overhaul at the Camp Nou - perhaps a crying need of the hour - was out of the question. Koeman couldn't start afresh. He had to make do with the resources at his disposal.
Barcelona needed to sell players to be able to buy new ones. Players deemed surplus to requirements were soon identified. Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Arthur Melo and Arturo Vidal bid adieu and Miralem Pjanic, Trincao and Sergino Dest arrived.
However, Barcelona have made an indifferent start to the season; they lie eighth in the league table after seven games. Lionel Messi has made an uncharacteristically slow start to the season; Antoine Griezmann has continued to misfire; Ter Stegen has only just returned to the first team after an injury.
If that was not enough, the promising Ansu Fati, who made a blistering start to the campaign, has been laid low by a long-term injury to further compound Barcelona's woes. It is now looking increasingly likely that the club would be active during the upcoming January transfer window.
On that note, let us have a look at six players, in no particular order, that Barcelona could jettison in the January transfer window.
#6 Samuel Umtiti
Samuel Umtiti has been a peripheral presence at Barcelona for quite a while.
A slew of injuries meant that the French center-back managed only 27 cumulative La Liga appearances for Barcelona in the last two seasons. He made almost as many appearances in each of his previous two seasons at the club.
Umtiti, who is yet to appear under Koeman this season, was recognized as one of the deadwood at the club and could have departed for Lyon in the summer, but the move didn't materialize.
The 27-year-old, who won the 2018 FIFA World Cup with France, doesn't look resigned to his fate and expressed his desire to fight for his place when he recently said:
"There were discussions, but it was quick, nothing concrete. I had to be able to speak with a club. I'll be honest: Barcelona is Barcelona. I don't want to leave Barcelona and even less like that. The last two years have been the most complicated of my career. Sometimes I got really sick of it. I relapsed each time, and with different injuries because I was trying to compensate. It wasn't a knee problem, it was that I had a total imbalance. I had to start over."
Once considered an 'irreplaceable' player, Umtiti, who has made over 100 appearances for the club, has slid down the pecking order at Barcelona.
Umtiti has not played for Barcelona since June and considering his injury woes, it looks increasingly likely that he might have already played his last game for the club.
#5 Carles Alena
Since making 17 appearances in Barcelona's victorious 2018-19 campaign, Carles Alena has seen reduced game-time at the club.
The 23-year-old midfielder played only four league games for Barcelona last season before departing on a six-month loan stint at Real Betis, where he managed 17 more league appearances.
Alena, who has since returned to the club, was 'unhappy' that his jersey number was given to new arrival Frenkie de Jong. However, the player has since inherited the number six jersey worn by club legend Xavi Hernandez.
Nevertheless, Alena remains far from enthused as he thinks that then-Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu reneged on a promise to provide the midfielder more game-time at the club.
Despite the exit of Bartomeu, Alena has made only one appearance (Champions League) all season. That makes it likely that the player could depart Barcelona in January, with Real Betis a likely destination.
#4 Riqui Puig
Since breaking into the Barcelona first team last season, when he managed 11 La Liga appearances and a handful of games in other competitions, Riqui Puig has only seen three minutes of action in the 2020-21 season.
The 21-year-old central midfielder hasn't managed to break into Ronald Koeman's team, which has led to speculation about the player's imminent departure from Camp Nou in January.
Puig, on his part, remains convinced that he could fight for his place at the club and work his way into the new manager's playing XI.
Despite Ronald Koeman wanting the player to go out on loan and gain some valuable game-time at another club, Puig is unwilling to leave.
With Miralem Pjanic comfortably ahead of the 21-year-old La Masia graduate in the pecking order, something that is unlikely to change any time soon, Puig could have a rethink and opt against continuing to warm the Barcelona bench.
#3 Junior Firpo
Junior Firpo managed 17 La Liga appearances in his debut season at Barcelona last campaign.
However, the 24-year-old left-back is yet to make an appearance in the top flight under Ronald Koeman this season. Firpo has only managed a pair of substitute appearances in Barcelona's Champions League wins over Ferencvaros and Juventus.
Barcelona need to sell a few players to be able to land two of their targets - Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay in January.
Inter Milan were linked with Firpo in the summer and could rekindle their interest in the player in January as the club require a left-back. With Firpo not in the plans of the new Barcelona manager, his departure from the club could make sense from both the club's and the player's perspective.
#2 Martin Braithwaite
Following the departure of Luis Suarez, Martin Braithwaite has inherited the iconic number nine jersey at Barcelona.
However, the 29-year-old Danish forward, who joined the Camp Nou outfit earlier this year, has struggled to make an impact at the club. Braithwaite has scored only once in 16 games in all competitions for the club.
Despite the indifferent form of Messi and the long-term injury of Fati, it is likely that Braithwaite could leave Barcelona in January as three Premier League clubs are reportedly interested in his services.
Moreover, Barcelona are apparently willing to 'listen' to offers for the player, which makes Braithwaite's Camp Nou exit a very likely proposition in the upcoming transfer window.
#1 Ousmane Dembele
Ousmane Dembele was reportedly one of several players identified as deadwood in the summer.
However, despite strong interest from Manchester United, the Frenchman opted to stay put at the club and work his way into Ronald Koeman's playing XI, something that did not enthuse the club as they hoped to use funds from his sale to land Memphis Depay.
Since arriving on a mega transfer from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017, Ousmane Dembele has had a stop-start career at Barcelona and has been beset by a plethora of injuries.
Dembele, who was out of action for ten months, returned to the Barcelona fold in September but hasn't set the ground ablaze with his performances - scoring thrice in eight games in all competitions.
On the few occasions he has been fit and made the Barcelona playing XI, the Frenchman has largely been a pale shadow of the player he was at Dortmund.
With Manchester United still interested in the player's services and Arsenal also reportedly in the fray, Dembele could leave Barcelona in the upcoming transfer window.
If that happens, Barcelona could hope to recoup a part of their initial investment on Dembele as the player becomes a free agent in the summer and could leave the club for free.
