Barcelona's Luis Enrique open to January signings

Joe Wright

Barcelona's Luis Enrique open to January signings image

Luis Enrique says Barcelona could strengthen its squad with new signings when the transfer window opens in January.

The Catalans invested heavily after last season, bringing in Paco Alcacer, Jasper Cillessen, Lucas Digne, Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes and Samuel Umtiti for a combined outlay reportedly totaling more than 120 million euros ($133.7M).

Injuries have blighted the La Liga champions in recent weeks, however, with Jordi Alba, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Jeremy Mathieu and Aleix Vidal all sidelined ahead of Sunday's clash with Sevilla.

Luis Enrique is expected to have most of his absent players fit again before the turn of the year, but he has not ruled out the prospect of bolstering his side's trophy charge.

"I'm not going to be very original. Barca always have to be open to ways of improving the team," he told a media conference. "It depends on whether there is something interesting and the price is right. But we're always open, regardless of whether we have more of a need [for players]."

Assessing Barca's injuries ahead of the meeting with Jorge Sampaoli's side at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, he added: "The players themselves will determine the process [of recovery]. We have no hope of getting them back right now.

"We are who we are and we have to be happy with that."

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.