After surrendering their La Liga crown to Real Madrid following three years of dominance, Barcelona face a big summer ahead of them.

The Blaugrana lifted the Copa Del Rey, beating Deportivo Alaves 3-1 in the final, but failure in both the league and in Europe meant that by their own lofty standards, the Catalan's had a poor season.

Following Luis Enrique's departure, former Athletic Bilbao manager Ernesto Valverde was brought in and the Spanish boss needs to make some marquee signings to remedy certain areas of his underperforming squad.

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Despite possessing two of the finest wingers in world football in Neymar and Lionel Messi, the depth in the area is noticeably weak.

Should either of the superstars pick up a long-term injury, Barca do not have the quality replacements available - unlike Real Madrid.

It is a conundrum they must answer and Sport are reporting that they have identified an answer with the Blaugrana targeting Bayern Munich winger, Douglas Costa.

The former Shakhtar Donetsk forward has fallen out of favour at the Allianz Arena and the Bavarian club are keen to cash-in on the 26-year-old.

Starting just 14 Bundesliga games all season, Costa is eager to move and Barca will face competition from the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham and Juventus for his signature.

However, the Blaugrana have to iron out certain issues if they are to sign the South American star but they have drawn up a plan in order to continue their pursuit.

In La Liga, each club is only allowed three non-EU players in their squad and Barca currently have their quota at maximum capacity.

Neymar, Luis Suarez and Marlon Santos fill the three spots for Valverde's side, meaning that signing Costa will not be easy.

Nevertheless, according to The Sun, Barca are hoping to get Neymar a Spanish passport after spending four years in the country, meaning he now qualifies for dual-citizenship.

Messi was handed the same documentation earlier in his career after joining as a 13-year-old, hence why he is not part of the quota - the Argentine star could have actually played for Spain.

It would be a smart ploy from the Blaugrana as they want to be able to pursue non-EU players in the summer and in Costa, they'd be getting one of the finest.

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