Barcelona are in a bit of bother. Knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage for the first time since 2000/01 and languishing in seventh place in La Liga, this season could quickly be heading towards disaster.
None of this should come as a surprise. The club are in dire straits financially at the moment, meaning the squad has become significantly weaker over the last couple of seasons. Of course, this is solely down to the club's own financial mismanagement over the best part of the last decade.
All of this means that it will be incredible difficult to for new manager Xavi to strengthen the squad in the medium term. Barcelona are under strict financial controls from La Liga and will have to sell before they are allowed to bring in any new faces.
That will certainly be the case in January, with Xavi having already earmarked a handful of players that can move on.
Football Espana are reporting that Barcelona are willing to sell five players next month, with Philippe Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti, Oscar Mingueza, Sergino Dest, and Frenkie de Jong all available.
De Jong is certainly the most eye-catching name on that list. The Dutchman has not been in great form in recent times, but he is without doubt one of the most talented players at the Camp Nou.
However, it seems Xavi is not convinced by the 24-year old. The fact that he is one of the few names at the club that could command a significant transfer fee is also likely to come into consideration.
Coutinho and Umtiti are two players that Barcelona have long been trying to get rid of, something that has been made difficult by their lack of form, injury issues, and mammoth pay packages. It seems unlikely that much will change on that front in January.
Sergino Dest has failed to make much of an impact since his move from Ajax last year, while defender Oscar Mingueza has also struggled in recent times.
It will be interesting to see what type of manoeuvres Barcelona can make in the weeks ahead.
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