Raheem Sterling Barcelona choice is clear with chance to fill Lionel Messi void

Barcelona will move to land Raheem Sterling from Manchester City in the January transfer window on an initial loan deal before making the move permanent.

It is a golden opportunity that the England international should seize to help kickstart his club career and become the main man at an elite European club.

The Catalan giant's financial issues and decline on the pitch have been well-documented but there remains an excellent team in place at the Camp Nou despite the summer exit of Lionel Messi.

New Blaugrana boss Xavi Hernandez has made former teammate Dani Alves his first signing at the club and will now prioritise the signing of a wide forward this January.

It was first reported earlier this week that Sterling headed a three-man shortlist of attacking options for Barca, with Manchester United 's Edinson Cavani and Timo Werner of Chelsea also under consideration.

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Barcelona want to add a forward of established quality to their ranks but are aware they must currently be out of favour with their current employers, who would be open to an initial temporary arrangement.

So far this campaign, Sterling has featured in just 376 minutes in the Premier League - a little more than four full matches - from just 12 matches.

For a player of his undoubted talent and who is so influential for England at international level, he must ensure he is a first-choice at his club side and this is not the case currently at City.

News of a lengthy injury layoff for Ferran Torres has not been enough to convince Pep Guardiola to include Sterling regularly in his line-up, with the former Liverpool star out of favour at the Etihad.

In September, Sterling told the FT Business of Sport US summit: "If there was an opportunity to go somewhere else, [for more game time], I would be open to it at this moment in time.

"As I said, football is the most important thing to me - challenges that I have set myself from a young age and dreams as well, to play abroad.

"As an English player all I know is the Premier League and I have always had something down [in me] that maybe one day I would love to play abroad to see how I would come up against that challenge.

"I'm not a person that's going to complain. I've not tried to make it a bigger deal than it actually is."

Sterling has bagged an impressive 157 goals throughout his career, of which 111 have come for club and country since the start of the 2017-18 campaign - when Guardiola's influence began to truly take an impact.

Having netted just twice in his first 43 caps for England, he has subsequently scored 16 goals in the following 27 internationals - including three in his nation's run to the Euro 2020 final.

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His numbers for a forward predominantly deployed in a wide attacking role are remarkable, with his decisiveness, movement and positional awareness in the final third earmarking him as a player who can fill Messi's void at the Camp Nou.

Sergio Aguero's health issues mean the Argentine is facing a lengthy layoff while Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele have both had multiple injury setbacks in recent times.

Barca need an attacking talisman to lead their new era and Sterling needs regular football at the theoretical peak years of his career.

The England international should not hesitate to grab the opportunity of a lifetime and complete a switch to the Catalan giants.