Slowly but surely, Barcelona are laying down foundations for the future by bringing in a number of young talents to eventually replace the old guard.

Andres Iniesta turns 34 in May and could even leave this summer, while Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez are all now into their 30s.

It's going to be a good few years yet before the last four names start to fade, but that hasn't stopped Barca from preparing for the inevitable.

Ousmane Dembele, 20, was brought to the club last summer from Borussia Dortmund for £135 million and then Philippe Coutinho, 25, arrived in January for roughly the same.

Barcelona are going to need to spend a lot more money to guarantee future success, but they've shown they're not afraid to loosen the pursestrings.

An out-and-out midfield replacement for Iniesta remains the priority, despite Coutinho joining from Liverpool, and for a long time it seemed Marco Verratti was the man to fill those shoes.

However, according to Spanish outlet AS, Barcelona are no longer interested in the Italian and have actually rejected the chance to sign him.

Verratti's agent, Mino Raiola, reportedly offered the Paris Saint-Germain star to Barca, who were linked with a £100 million move last summer.

But the Blaugrana said no - and why? Well, the answer is two fold.

Barcelona recently confirmed the €30 million capture of the Arthur, with the young Brazilian due to complete his move at the end of the season. They don't need any more midfielders at present.

Furthermore, Barca believe Verratti needs to mature as a player after watching the 25-year-old get himself sent off against Real Madrid in the Champions League last week.

PSG lost that game 2-1 to get knocked out at the last 16 stage, with Verratti's red card coming at an important moment in the game.

No move to Barcelona for Verratti, then, which will come as good news to PSG manager Unai Emery, who recently claimed the Italy international is the future.

"[Verratti] must learn from his experiences, both the positive and negative," said Emery of Verratti's red card. "He has a lot of character, a temperament.

"We have talked with him about it many times. He has been frustrated in some games. He is the future of PSG and knows that he must improve. He is an important player in the project."