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After spending heavily in the 2022 summer transfer window, Barcelona will have a relatively quiet outing in the next.
Barca signed a number of world-class players and also managed to clear much of the deadwood at the club this past summer transfer window. Despite all that, they have crashed out of the UEFA Champions League. They are now laying the groundwork for future transfer windows.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 14 December 2022.
Barcelona monitoring Alan Varela
Barcelona are on the lookout for a long-term successor to Sergio Busquets. According to SPORT, they are now looking at young Argentine midfielder Alan Varela as a potential replacement for the legendary Busquets.
Varela rose through the ranks at Boca Juniors before breaking into the first-team setup two years ago. He has since been able to establish himself as an important player for them. Varela made 42 appearances, scoring a goal and providing two assists as Boca Juniors won Liga Profesional in the 2022 season.
He has now garnered interest from Barca and is an exciting prospect who won't cost them a fortune.
Hector Bellerin to remain at Barca until the end of the season
Hector Bellerin wants to kick on at Barca despite playing time coming at a premium since arriving at the club in the summer as a free agent, as per Fabrizio Romano. Romano claims that the Spanish right-back has held a meeting with his agent and has decided to stick it out until the end of the 2022-23 season.
It is further claimed that Barca have also accepted the idea and want to keep Bellerin until next summer unless something changes in January. Bellerin has made just five starts for Barca in all competitions this season and he has failed to score or provide an assist so far.
Barca to make only one big signing next summer
Mundo Deportivo has provided a comprehensive report on Barca's policy for the two upcoming transfer windows. While the club will be looking to rope in a right-back in January, they are likely to target just one big signing next summer.
This is because Barca will need to comply with the Financial Fair Play regulations and cannot resort to pulling economic levers again.
All fingers point to Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. With replacing Busquets becoming a priority as he is tipped to leave the Camp Nou next summer, Barca will need to strengthen their midfield.
Zubimendi has a €60 million release clause and it's the only thing that's acting as an impediment to the deal as things stand.
