5 structural changes Barcelona must make to arrest their decline

3): Trust La Masia

FC Barcelona vs Club Atletico de Madrid - La Liga

La Masia holds a special place among the premier football academies in world football. The academy has been pivotal in Barcelona's success over the years, producing prospect after prospect.

Unlike the senior team, the principles of total football are ingrained into the La Masia players, enabling them to understand and appreciate the values the club holds dearly. Unfortunately, the past few years have seen fewer opportunities given to La Masia graduates, with the senior side opting to buy expensively and extensively. Consequentially, the likes of Riqui Puig and Carles Alena have seen very less game-time, even when the apparent 'stars' have failed to perform consistently.

Barceloa need to place more trust in La Masia and facilitate more promotions from the academy to the senior side. That would help save money as well as preserve the prized 'Barcelona DNA' that has brought so much success to the club. Academy players could make mistakes, but they will only get better over time.

4): Major squad clearout

Barcelona vs Bayern Munich - UEFA Champions League quarter-final

The current roster does not make for good reading if you're a Barcelona fan. There is an obvious dearth of quality in key areas, with many players past their best and some not good enough.

A massive overhaul of the squad is required, and ideally at least six to seven players need to be taken off the wage bill. Barcelona have very little room for error in this regard and need to make sales while the players still retain some of their value.

The Barcelona board needs to ignore any sentiment around replacing erstwhile legends like Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique who have seen their stock drop drastically. Even if they are retained for the time being, a plan to gradually ease them out of the side must be in place.

However, others above the age of 30 need to be viewed objectively and moved on at the earliest. Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic are two examples of players who are on huge salaries despite their inconsistencies. A successful side needs a balance of youth and experience, and Barcelona need more of the former and less of the latter.

5): Streamline player transfer policies

FC Barcelona vs SSC Napoli - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: Second Leg

The signings made by Barcelona in recent years have been expensive, confusing and inefficient. From overpaying for Philippe Coutinho to swapping Arthur for Miralem Pjanic, the player business conducted has been shocking, to say the least.

Should Bartomeu and Abidal leave, the Blaugrana must align their policies in the transfer market with the club's core philosophy. The focus has to shift from exclusively signing big names who may not fit in the side to investing in the future. Incoming players like Frenkie de Jong and Francisco Trincao represent good business, and ideally are the profiles Barcelona should be looking at.

A serious concern for the club is the imminent Lionel Messi's departure in the near future. While the Argentine still performs consistently, at 33 years of age he cannot continue to be Barcelona's centre-piece.

Rather, the Catalan club must invest in a side that can prolong Messi's time at the top level by reducing the team's heavy reliance on him. The fact of the matter is that the spine of the Barcelona squad needs replacing. If recent history teaches us anything, it is that Barcelona need to overhaul their player transfer policies at the earliest.