Ernesto Valverde tells Barcelona bosses to only sign 'starters' in January transfer window

Ernesto Valverde is understood to have told the Barcelona board that any player brought in during the January transfer window must be of sufficient quality to immediately break into the starting XI.

The La Liga giants have enjoyed an impressive start to the life under their new manager, but Sport claims the former Athletic Club Bilbao boss has requested the club make a renewed effort in the upcoming mercato to help their Champions League push.

During Luis Enrique's tenure at the Nou Camp Barcelona prioritised the arrival of young players to improve the depth of the squad.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets were all constants at the time and it would have been hard, if not impossible, to sign players who could dislodge them from the team.

Thus, during Luis Enrique's last season in charge, Barcelona added six players to their ranks in the form of Samuel Umtiti, Paco Alcacer, Andre Gomes, Lucas Digne, Jasper Cillessen and Denis Suarez.

"Luis Enrique didn't want squabbles in the dressing room and was confident in his starters. He wanted reserves who don't alter the atmosphere of the dressing room and leave the main players to do their thing," a sourced from the board said according to Sport.

A year later only Umtiti has managed to establish himself in the starting eleven, at the expense of Javier Mascherano, with the other five still functioning mere back-ups.

Sport claims that Valverde has urged the Barcelona board to change that policy if they want his side to win the Champions League this season.

The manager made five signings during the summer transfer window in the form of Paulinho, Nelson Semedo, Gerard Deulofeu, Ousmane Dembele and Marlon Santos, with the Brazilian being sent to Nice on a two season-long deal in order to continue his development.

Sport says the Barcelona boss believes this is not enough to win the Champions League and he wants the next signing to be a player who can make an instant impact in his line-up.

The Spanish publication says that Valverde has given the order to sign players who can "compete with Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic or whoether else" from day one, adding talent and improving the creativity up front.

Sport doesn't specify any names but it has been widely reported that signing Philippe Coutinho remains Barcelona's top priority after they failed to lure him away from Liverpool during the summer.

The Brazilian ace usually plays as a winger in Jurgen Klopp's 4-3-3 formation but the Catalans believe that the Liverpool star has the intangibles to adapt to the middle of the park and become a long-term replacement for Iniesta.

The captain recently signed a new lifetime contract at Barcelona, but he is already 33 years old. During the last two campaigns he has missed a number of games due to various fitness problems.