Ranking Luis Enrique's Options to Cover for Barcelona's Injured Sergio Busquets

Barcelona picked up what was eventually a comfortable, if important, 4-0 win over Eibar on Sunday night to solidify their third-place standing in La Liga and also close the gap at the top back to two points to Real Madrid.

It was largely a good night's work for Luis Enrique and his side, with one or two stars rested and all of his front three among the goals, but the big disappointment came in the shape of an injury to key central midfielder Sergio Busquets, stretchered off early in the match.

Marca reported that the Spanish controller could be out of action for up to four weeks with an ankle sprain.

Over that period, Barcelona will face the likes of Real Sociedad, Athletic Club, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid—seven matches in all—which Busquets could miss. It leaves Luis Enrique with decisions over who to use in place of his influential No. 5, with plenty of options to choose from.

5. Short-Term Investment

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Lucas of Liverpool; Cesc of Chelsea

The one silver lining for Barcelona, should they choose to see and use it, is that Busquets' injury has occurred in January—the sole month during the campaign when they can do something about their squad and delve into the transfer market.

Looking around Europe, plenty of individuals who operate either as the holding midfielder or in a central role are established as big-club players, yet not in favour this season. They could well be available on low-cost deals or on loans until the end of the campaign; although Barcelona only want someone for the next month or so, it wouldn't hurt to have a little extra depth in the squad toward the season's end, either.

Ander Iturraspe of Athletic, Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal, Lucas Leiva of Liverpool, Mario Lemina of Juventus and Nuri Sahin of Borussia Dortmund are all examples of players who could fit the bill to replace Busquets.

None match his level of quality—but that's the point of a short-term fix.

To go above and beyond those players, Cesc Fabregas would be an outlier: potentially available and interested as he's not a first-XI player at Chelsea, naturally affiliated with Barca but more of a No. 8 than a No. 6 in the present midfield setup.

Should none of the options appeal, or be within Barcelona's reach for financial or time constraints, Luis Enrique must look within his squad instead.

4. Ivan Rakitic

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When Busquets left the field against Eibar, he was replaced by Denis Suarez, who went on to score the opening goal. Denis played as the right-sided midfielder of the three, the role usually filled by Ivan Rakitic—who in turn filled in centrally for Busquets.

It's not an unnatural role for the Croatian; at international level, he is often part of a rotating cast with Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic that sees a double pivot and a more freely roving player take centre stage, while earlier in his career at Schalke, he also played as a more controlled, centralised playmaker before being shifted forward.

Rakitic will do the job admirably for Barca; he's positionally aware, determined and aggressive with defensive work, and his passing is almost the equal of Busquets. He's a good, reliable option, and it's no surprise Luis Enrique entrusted his No. 4 to do the job mid-game at Eibar.

But putting him there means Barcelona miss out on his abilities further forward, his link play with the attackers and his movement into the final third. Barca's midfield has been lightweight overall this season, and they need Rakitic back on top form and in the No. 8 role.

3. Andre Gomes

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One of the reasons for Barcelona's underperformance in the midfield trident has been the relative disappointment in Andre Gomes' displays.

The former Valencia man hasn't had a big impact on the team despite plenty of starting chances and has barely contributed in the final third in terms of creating against teams, even though his main strengths include his vision, execution of passing and ability to exploit space.

Shift Gomes further downfield, and he gets to do all of that with more regularity—but without the expectation and pressure of him applying the final pass or finishing off moves, which have been woeful from his point of view so far.

The Portuguese midfielder isn't an aggressive tackler, but he has played deepest in a three plenty of times before, operating as an instigator of attacks rather than a destroyer. He needs to shine, Barca need him to prove his worth, and perhaps a regular stretch of 90-minute games in a deeper position will give him the chance to do so.

2. Javier Mascherano

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Lest it be forgotten, while Busquets might be the world's best defensive midfielder when at the top of his game, the man who surely held that title beforehand was Javier Mascherano—now Barca's left-sided centre-back.

The Argentinian general is critical to Barca's play, sweeping up in committed fashion whenever teams counter-attack and instigating play from deep thanks to his years in midfield that give him a composure and assurance on the ball, even if that doesn't lend itself to creativity.

Mascherano is the lead option in terms of quality and guarantee for the position and the team, and nobody could disagree wholeheartedly with Luis Enrique if he opts to move the former Liverpool man forward and regularly play Samuel Umtiti alongside Gerard Pique in the centre of defence.

1. Sergi Roberto

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But there is one final option, and for a number of reasons, perhaps that's the one Luis Enrique should choose...at least, for the majority of matches where Barca expect to overcome their opponents.

Sergi Roberto has been largely excellent at right-back since switching from midfield to that position at the start of last season, even if he has sustained some injuries and his form in the last few months hasn't reached its highest level. Even so, he's clearly Barcelona standard: proactive and technically excellent in possession, a high work rate and clever enough to link with Leo Messi and Co. ahead of him.

A shift infield to midfield reinforces Sergi Roberto's sense of self-importance to the team, shows how the manager relies on him and—while he isn't the perfect ball-winner like Mascherano—means the team will not lose out in quality of passing and vision from deep in Busquets' absence.

Roberto can also surge forward suddenly, taking opposition players out of the game with his runs, while also being much-improved with his positional work and defensive accountability over the last 18 months.

In turn, it allows a return to the first XI for Aleix Vidal at right-back; ostracised for a period and largely assumed to be on the verge of leaving, Vidal has won back the chance to have minutes on the pitch in recent weeks, and a run of games at right-back can solidify his worth in the squad—and show, perhaps once and for all, whether he's good enough to be a regular option for the manager in that position.

It's a win-win scenario for both Sergi Roberto and Vidal in that case and can help Barca plan their summer spending for that position—or the lack of need for it and subsequent allocation of funds elsewhere—especially if they perform well against the bigger sides in Barcelona's upcoming run.