Barcelona Transfers: 4 Brazilian Players Barca May Consider Signing in January

It's September but many fans are already thinking about what their teams will do during the January transfer window. FC Barcelona looks set for the season after acquiring Jordi Alba from Valencia and Alex Song from Arsenal.

While it looks unlikely that Tito Vilanova and Sandro Rosell will look to buy a player in the transfer window, there are three players that the club may consider buying if the team begins to struggle before January.

Instead of saying a bunch of names that make no sense, let's just name four players that make the most sense and would make solid additions to el blaugrana.

All of the players mentioned are Brazilian, just to mix things up.

Vamos!

Perhaps not too many people know who 26-year-old Rhodolfo is, so let's get to know him a bit.

Rhodolfo is a CB who currently plays for Sao Paolo in Brazil. At 6'4", Rhodolfo is a monster presence in the back line. Yet it is his quickness and agility that makes him stand out as a defender. The big man has scored 10 goals in 70 appeareances for Sao Paulo—a great goal-to-games-played ratio for a defender.

Recently, AS Roma were looking to bring in Rhodolfo, according to Corriere dello Sport (h/t goal.com), but the Italian club was unable to reach a deal of €10 million with the Brazilian club for Rhodolfo's services.

Barcelona could use a big guy like Rhodolfo in their back line. He's obviously faster than Carles Puyol and would make a dynamic duo with Gerard Pique. Two tall CBs in the middle of the back line would surely cause problems for most teams. Let's not forget Rhodolfo's speed, which makes him a good defender to go after the likes of Real Madrid's quick forwards.

Sandro Rosell may not be interested in bringing in Rhodolfo this January, but at €10 million—potentially even less—for his services, he may not a bad investment.

PS: Rhodolfo looks like he could be Kaká's taller cousin.

As we all saw in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup, Barcelona's defense is not the strongest. Carles Puyol is getting up in age and a young center-back is needed.

For whatever reason, Tito Vilanova is following Pep Guardiola’s steps of not giving the squad’s young CBs a shot at sufficient playing time. This past summer, Sandro Rosell tried to get Thiago Silva from AC Milan, only to fail. Silva was later sold to Paris Saint-Germain.

Although Barcelona needs to give Marc Bartra and Marc Muniesa a fair shot at earning the CB spot for the future, perhaps a more experienced CB is needed.

Enter Brazil’s Dedé.

Dedé is a 24-year-old, 6’3” CB who plays for Brazil’s Vasco da Gama. He started his career at Volta Redonda and later moved to Vasco de Gama. In 2010, Dedé had a break out year as he was named the Brasileirão’s best right center back that year.

AC Milan and Juventus have been previously rumored to be interested in Dedé’s services. Earlier this year, Dedé stated that he was not ready to leave Brazil for European football.

Perhaps the time has come with a team like Barcelona.

Barcelona needs to improve on defense and Dedé would be a significant purchase. However, I still feel Tito needs to give Marc Bartra a shot to earn the CB spot for the future. If the team begins to slip up again between now and January, it may not be a bad deal to go for Dedé, who’s estimated transfer value is around €15 million.

David Luiz has been linked with FC Barcelona for a while now. It looked like there was a definite possibility of seeing the Brazilian on the Camp Nou pitch in 2012. But the rumors were just speculation, and Luiz stayed at Chelsea.

With Barcelona seemingly continuing to have issues on the back line, it could be time to revisit the idea of bringing in David Luiz.

Given that the same rules apply to David Luiz that apply to Dedé, Barcelona should give Marc Bartra and a healthy Marc Muniesa a shot to play the CB position on a regular basis. But unlike his countryman Dedé, David Luiz is experienced in European football and has played in big games for Chelsea in the EPL and the UEFA Champions League.

The downside of David Luiz is that he obviously tends to be a risk-taker in the back line and that’s not what Barcelona needs. They need a stable defender who will not go too far out of his line.

With a price tag easily around €20 million, it may not be wise to pick up David Luiz in the January transfer window.

Then again, if desperate times come, desperate measure will be taken.

Finally, we come to the player that perhaps is most likely going to FC Barcelona; it’s just that we don’t know when: Neymar.

Of course we’ve all seen the highlights of what the Brazilian wonder can do. Neymar has been linked to FC Barcelona for a few years now and while most—including myself—believe he will join Barcelona by next season, there is a possibility that he could join el blaugrana in January.

What would it take for this to happen?

For one, it’d take for Barcelona to struggle scoring goals. Pedro looks back in form, but Alexis Sanchez is still struggling to find the back of the net. If injuries come play for the Barça forwards, Tito Vilanova may ask Sandro Rosell to find a way (and money) to bring in Neymar for the rest of the season and beyond.

As far as money, FC Barcelona would find the money to pay the transfer fee. Earlier this year, Canal SER (Spain) reported that Barcelona has already made a payment of €14.5 million to Santos as a sort of down payment for Neymar.

Personally, I don’t want to see Neymar come to FC Barcelona this season. I don’t think the team needs him with David Villa, Pedro, Alexis, as well as Isaac Cuenca and Cristian Tello. Let’s not forget that young Gerard Deulofeu.

Neymar is without a doubt the best player in South America and he will make a great addition to FC Barcelona one day.

Could that one day come in January? We'll see.

Thanks for reading.

Remember, I will begin “FIFA Thursdays” every Thursday beginning September 27. I will be online from 10 p.m. to midnight ET playing against my readers.

So if you want to play against and beat me at FIFA 13, I'm on Xbox 360 and my username is Xoel7. Find me there. I look forward to beating many of you on FIFA 13. And you can guess which team I’ll always pick.

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Xoel, The Voice of FC Barcelona on Bleacher Report.

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Don't forget to check out my other columns:

FC Barcelona: 2013-14 Road Kits Leaked?

FC Barcelona: All Barca Player's Goals from Their International Games (VIDEO)

Observing the Cristiano Ronaldo Saga From a Barca Fan's Perspective