It was quite a busy January transfer window for Chelsea, with the Blues bringing in Olivier Giroud, Emerson Palmeri and Ross Barkley.

Barkley had been wanted by the club for some time, with the English midfielder abandoning a move from Everton in the summer due to picking up a very serious hamstring injury which kept him out for the first half of the season.

So far, the 24-year-old has been used sparingly by Antonio Conte, with Barkley starting just one Premier League game and that was in the disastrous 3-0 loss to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.

Barkley also turned in a bit of a disaster-class in Chelsea's 2-1 loss to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final, when he surprisingly came off the bench instead of Michy Batshuayi to replace the injured Willian.

Of course, it is early days in his Blues career, but no football fan can deny that his career has stagnated to a point where it looks ever more likely that he is destined to remain in the 'average' category.

However, back in 2014, Barkley was seen as England's next great midfielder, earning rave reviews from around the world for his performances for Everton.

And, Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez once gave him some enormous praise. Sadly, it looks a little silly right now.

When asked by Squawka if he thought Barkley and Raheem Sterling - who was at Liverpool at the time - Xavi replied: "Yes, why not? I think that they could.

"They have incredible physical capabilities and they are good technically.

"In Spain, we prioritise players who are technically gifted but both things are very important in football."

Thankfully for the World Cup-winning midfielder, his prediction about Sterling has kind of come to fruition, with the winger establishing himself as one of the best in the business, the kind of player that would really suit Barca's system - as proven by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

But, it would be hard to see Barkley even getting in ahead of the likes of Andre Gomes in the Barca setup right now.

Hindsight really is the most beautiful of things.