Barcelona plans transfers in January after Rafinha's injury

Barcelona could turn to the transfer market in January after losing midfielder Rafinha after injury for the rest of the season, manager Ernesto Valverde said.

Rafinha, 25, is injured at the knee anterior cruciate ligament against Atletico Madrid on Saturday and will undergo surgery next week.

The Brazilian international has made eight appearances so far this season and has regularly played in the recent injury to Lionel Messi, starting victories over Inter Milan and Real Madrid at Camp Nou.

"It's something we need to badyze," said Valverde to the question of whether the club would seek to sign a replacement for Rafinha in January. "The injury was a surprise, because of the way it happened.He was able to end the match against Atletico and then Sunday. [we find out the extent of the problem].

"We will have to examine everything, because the January transfer window is near, we will have to look at the circumstances and see what we are doing."

Barca's desire to sign a new midfielder precedes Rafinha's injury. Sources confirmed at ESPN FC that Adrien Rabiot of Paris Saint-Germain and Ajax's Frenkie de Jong were both under study, while Paul Pogba of Manchester United it's shared the opinion of the club.

However, there are already plenty of midfielders in the club – in the first team and in the B team – who could benefit from Rafinha's fate on the sidelines.

Valverde suggested that Carles Alena and Denis Suarez earn more playing time, while also watching the names of Barca B players Riqui Puig, Alex Collado, Monchu and Oriol Busquets.

Alena, Denis and Puig are all part of the team that went to Eindhoven on Tuesday for the Barca Champions League match against Dutch champion PSV Eindhoven.

The Barca have already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition, but Valverde said he would still try to win the match to try to retain the group's lead with a game to play.

"We are in the Champions League and our idea is to win the group," said the coach. "Our intention is to win.We know the difference between the first and the second.We do not want to speculate, there will be no experiments."

Barca misses half a dozen players due to an injury for the match. In addition to Rafinha, Luis Suarez, Roberto Sergi, Arthur Melo, Jasper Cillessen and Thomas Vermaelen are also absent.

Valverde attributed the recent wave of injuries to the players' international commitments, but preferred to focus on the players he has available this week.

Ousmane Dembele is one of them. who will not leave the club in January according to ESPN FC sources. The French striker came off the bench to tie late against Atletico this weekend and Valverde explained why it's not always a bad thing if he does not start the match.

"Dembele is a player who plays regularly this season, whether from the beginning or as a replacement, he has this quality," he said.

"If he starts, he can unbalance the teams." When he gets off the bench, he can always change a game. It's something that I greatly appreciate. It's not really important, but it's important that players can change the dynamics of a game and not everyone has that quality. "