It depends on the players – Abidal open to Barcelona departures

Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal has hinted that the club may be open to selling players in the January transfer window.

Barca unveiled their first signing of the window on Thursday, with Jeison Murillo – who has arrived on loan from Valencia – presented at Camp Nou.

However, there are also rumours that Barca will be looking to trim their squad, with some reports suggesting that Philippe Coutinho, signed for an initial fee of £105million last season, could make way, with Ousmane Dembele currently ahead of the former Liverpool star in the pecking order.

It has also been suggested that Coutinho could be used as a makeweight in a deal for Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe.

And though Abidal insisted that there are currently no plans for players to leave, he did acknowledge that situation could change should those struggling for regular football demand a move.

“It depends on the players and some of them need to play more minutes,” Abidal told reporters at Murillo’s presentation.

“We will talk with them and we will take decisions.

“We analyse the internal situation and we will continue to see how the market is but we have nothing planned.”

92 – At 92 seconds, Philippe Coutinho’s goal was @FCBarcelona’s fastest ever in a @ChampionsLeague away game. Tiki-taka. pic.twitter.com/SReoEhxP7O

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) 3 October 2018

One player who has been heavily linked with a move to Camp Nou is PSG’s Adrien Rabiot, who has refused to sign a new deal with the Ligue 1 champions.

Abidal, however, refused to be drawn on whether Barca would approach PSG in January.

“Today isn’t a good day to talk about this, this is Murillo’s day,” Abidal said.

“We will keep an eye on the market to look what offers are there, and what needs we need to cover.”