COMMENT: FC Barcelona have enjoyed a memorable 2015 and things could be about to become even better in the New Year with the transfer ban on the club being lifted and new faces being brought in.
But are they really needed?
Already waiting in the wings to reinforce Luis Enrique's squad are Turkey international Arda Turan and former Blaugrana youth team prospect Aleix Vidal, with the pair both agreeing to not play for four months after agreeing deals to move to Camp Nou in the summer.
Without signing a player that could actually play since the summer of 2014, due to the ban imposed on them after being found guilty of breaking rules on signing international players under the age of 18, the Catalan giants swept all before them.
The UEFA Champions League, Spanish league title and Copa del Rey were all secured as Barça won the treble at the end of the 2014/15 campaign and the European Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup have made it five trophies out of a possible six in the last calendar year.
Up front the trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez have swept all before them and been labelled MSN, by the Spanish media, while Real Madrid's three frontmen, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, dubbed BBC, have struggled to keep pace.
Despite MSN's free-scoring exploits, concerns about back-up were made, but when Messi picked up an injury that saw him miss almost two months of the current season, Sandro Ramírez and Munir El Haddadi stepped up from the youth team without the team missing a beat.
Pedro was allowed to leave in the summer and some doubted the club's ability to replace him and despite the two youngsters coming in there is talk that Denis Suárez's buy-back clause could be activated to see him return from Villarreal.
Then there is Vidal who has returned to the Camp Nou having been rejected by the club after just one season as a youngster. He can operate on the right flank to add another option going forward, as well as filling in at right-back in place of Daniel Alves.
Turan will add strength and guile to a midfield already functioning on all cylinders as he has been handed the number seven shirt, but he will have to earn his place in the starting line-up and return to full match sharpness after moving from Atlético de Madrid and agreeing last summer to forego four months of his career to play for Barça.
The Turkish star will be up against Ivan Rakitic, Andrés Iniesta, Sergi Roberto and Rafinha for a starting spot in Luis Enrique's team each week while youth team hopefuls Gerard Gumbau and Sergi Samper are also being introduced slowly to the first-team set-up in midfield by Luis Enrique.
Talk of Nolito returning from Celta de Vigo and Jonathan Soriano being prised away from the Red Bull Salzburg has also being doing the rounds in the Catalan media as Barça return to the market and want to shake things up.
With such riches already at his disposal and sitting on top of the league, before the final round of games of 2015, and going well in both the Champions League and Copa del Rey, will too many signings prove to be a mistake or just the tonic the club needs to hold off the Madrid duo just behind them in the table?
