Positions and players that Europe's top five non-English clubs should target in January

#2: FC Barcelona

Positions that need to be strengthened - Attacking midfielder, Winger

The goalscoring burden has fallen on Messi's shoulders after the departure of Neymar

Barcelona have had a very good start to the season, the only team to be unbeaten in all competitions this season. They sit pretty at the top of the table, five points clear of second-placed Valencia and they got through to the Champions League knockout stages by topping their group too.

Even though the results have come, there have been many inherent difficulties for this Barcelona side. They have only scored five in just one game thus far, against Espanyol at home. Most of their other wins have not been comfortable, even 3-0 wins over Girona and Leganes were unconvincing.

Their 1-1 draw with Valencia recently, which saw a Lionel Messi goal wrongly ruled out, was arguably their best attacking performance to date. The 3-0 victory over Juventus was a fantastic display too, with Messi magic taking centre-stage. There lies their problem, as many faults with the team are often hidden by Messi and his individual brilliance in focus.

Barcelona had a tough game against Valencia which saw Messi's goal wrongly ruled out

Since Neymar's departure, Lionel Messi has had possession of the ball a lot more in every game. He has become the primary playmaker, dribbler, chance creator and goalscorer for the club. That's a lot of responsibility, isn't it?

This is where Barcelona are lacking compared to some of the other teams, like Manchester City for instance. Suarez has been in indifferent form so far, scoring only seven league goals and struggling for consistency in the final third.

As a result, the burden has fallen on Messi's shoulders, which also saw his longest goal-drought in a Barca shirt (six games without scoring). They need players who can take up more attacking responsibility and those are the players they need to target in January.

Luis Suarez needs to improve as the season goes on

The positions that Barcelona need to look at are attacking midfielder and winger.

Andres Iniesta seems to back to nearly his enthralling best, but his legs are failing him with injuries popping up regularly, and an inability to complete full 90 minutes on the pitch means that Barcelona require a world-class replacement.

Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) has clearly been Barcelona's first-choice, with their transfer attempts becoming public knowledge in the summer months. Rumours suggest they will be back with another massive bid, this time in the region of £130m, and rightly so. Coutinho is a top-quality midfielder and at 25, is still yet to reach his peak years.

With incredible close control, an eye for a pass and good goalscorer himself, he is the perfect remedy that Barcelona need. His transfer in January would mean that he is no longer able to play in the Champions League this season, having already represented the Reds in their group stage fixtures, but he may be willing to give that up in order to secure his dream move.

Philippe Coutinho could seal his dream Barcelona move next year

Other targets for Barcelona include Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) and Angel di María (PSG), the latter confirming that Barca wanted him in the summer. Both players are world-class and could be valuable additions to the squad, but their Real Madrid history may turn out to be the factor which will not allow a move to the club.

Winger is another position they need to get reinforcements for, with Gerard Deulofeu having made a lukewarm impact since rejoining Barcelona from Everton. Ousmane Dembélé is stepping up his recovery from a lengthy injury and still deserves his opportunity centre-stage, but they need to be prepared with another winger of the same calibre who can challenge the young Frenchman for a place in the starting eleven every week.

PSG's Julian Draxler and Nabil Fekir have both been linked to Barca in recent months. Acquiring either of the pair would help improve Barcelona's attack drastically - they have both shown quality for their respective clubs that the La Liga giants would greatly benefit from, but have struggled to see enough of from their existing players.

Deulofeu has not impressed Valverde enough this term