Realistic Targets for Barcelona When Their Transfer Ban Ends in 2016

Andoni Zubizarreta was happier than most to see the transfer window close at the end of the summer—it meant Barcelona's sporting director was able to have his first holiday in four years, as he revealed in quotes carried by Spanish newspaper ABC.

He may well have felt that he had earned it, given the overtime he had put in over the preceding months.

Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic numbered among a host of new faces to head in through the Camp Nou gates, as promised by Josep Maria Bartomeu earlier in the year, per Goal.com, while Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas headlined the departures.

It was a summer of madness for Barca which had been born out of necessity, though, rather than them making particularly clever use of the market.

Several seasons had passed without them signing any defenders, while there was good reason to believe things needed freshening up slightly further forward as well.

And, on top of that, there was the small matter of FIFA's transfer ban.

Football's governing body rejected their appeal regarding charges brought against them for breaching rules on the signing of international players under the age of 18, per BBC Sport.

Therefore, the Catalan giants now find themselves unable to sign anyone until January 2016.

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So, with his holiday over, Zubizarreta is now turning his attention towards finding the next generation of stars whom La Blaugrana can line up for then—and, in turn, make sure they never have to endure a busier window as they did this summer by planning accordingly.

David Rubio, a journalist for the newspaper Sport, revealed on Thursday eight of the players the former Barca goalkeeper has already begun to target.

Some, of course, will be rubbish, while others certainly carry more weight.

Norwegian teen star Martin Odegaard, the youngest player to ever debut in his home country's league, is a confirmed target.

He also holds the record for being the youngest goalscorer in Norway's top flight, and he made his international bow for the senior team at 15 years and 253 days old in August—another record.

Given his age—he doesn't turn 16 until December—the transfer ban is unlikely to hinder Barca too much in their pursuit of the youngster, although interest from other clubs could be a problem.

Sport have revealed that Barca have already invited the immensely talented attacker to spend some time at La Masia; a deal could eventually be done in a similar manner to those which brought Denis Suarez and Alen Halilovic to the Spanish coast to play for Barca B.

The next realistic target on Rubio's list is another young star: 17-old-defender Sebastian Vegas.

He's described as "left-footed, quick, elegant and tall," and the article goes onto state that Barcelona tried to sign him during the summer, but bureaucratic problems got in the way, leaving the Chilean to continue his progression in Audax Italiano’s first team.

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Summer signings Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen are both around 30, so, providing nobody develops to a suitable level from within the club, Vegas could prove an astute acquisition when the transfer ban is up.

Elsewhere, the other six names mentioned are less convincing.

Toulouse forward Wissam Ben Yedder is already 24 and would have to impress a lot over the next 12 months to prove he is ready to make the step up to Barcelona.

Sampdoria's Manolo Gabbiadini, 22, and Ajax's Viktor Fischer, 20, may prove more interesting bets.

Brazilian midfielder Wallyson Mallmann is also mentioned, but with Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Rafinha with their best years ahead of them, plus a host of young, talented midfielders waiting behind them, Barca's need may be elsewhere when they are once again let loose in the transfer market.

Finally, Rubio suggests both Zakaria Bakkali and Richairo Zivkovic, of PSV and Ajax, respectively, are being monitored by Barcelona.

Unlike Odegaard and Vegas, neither have previous links with Barcelona, and it seems the youngest two will be the most realistic Barcelona targets once Zubizarreta gets back down to business.

Of course, in the months that follow, many more names will continuously crop up.