Barcelona’s improved XI if Raheem Sterling joins from Man City in January

Pep Guardiola reflects after Manchester City's 6-3 win against Leipzig

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Barcelona’s summer couldn’t have gone much worse in terms of transfers. Losing their best two attackers in the form of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, they only replaced them with an injury-prone Sergio Aguero, Luuk de Jong and Memphis Depay (as good as he is, Depay isn’t on the level of Messi).

Their focus on youth has been encouraging, with Pedri, Ansu Fati and Riqui Puig all set to feature more.

But their reported interest in Raheem Sterling could really spark life into the Catalan side if they were to sign the Englishman.

Express Sport takes a look at the potential XI Ronald Koeman could field if Sterling moves to Spain.

Goalkeeper: Marc-Andre ter Stegen

Ter Stegen is one of the only consistent Barcelona players to grace this line-up.

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If it wasn’t for Manuel Neuer’s excellence, Ter Stegen would be Germany’s first-choice goalkeeper.

And he will continue to be Barcelona’s No 1 as long as he stays in Catalonia.

Defence: Sergino Dest, Gerard Pique, Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba

The less said about this defence, the better.

True, stalwarts Pique and Alba are good enough to play for Barcelona, but at the ages of 34 and 32 there has to be a back-up plan.

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Dest brings youth, but with substandard performances, he is not convincing as of yet.

And with deadwood Lenglet and Umtiti rotting out the reserves, they need to be shipped out in order to bring a world-class defender in.

Midfield: Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Sergio Busquets

Again, the midfield sort of picks itself due to the horrific squad depth.

Veteran Busquets is a great leader to have in front of the youthful De Jong and Pedri.

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But with youngster Puig and Roberto being the only players challenging the trio, it is a very easy decision for Koeman to make.

Attack: Ousmane Dembele, Raheem Sterling, Memphis Depay

The attack is littered with numbers, but not so much talent.

The starting three are all very good players, whilst Aguero and Fati could be classed as unlucky to miss out.

But with players who aren’t anywhere near Barcelona quality – such as De Jong, Martin Braithwaite and forgotten man Philippe Coutinho, there remains a lot of deadwood to move.

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