Martin Montoya's awkward situation could end with Barça exit in January

Martin Montoya's situation at Barcelona is as surreal as it is absurd. He signed a five-year contract hardly six months ago in what looked like a clear committment to the future on both sides - especially considering Dani Alves' situation at the time.

However, Alves ended up staying in the summer. Meanwhile, Barça's attempts to sign Juan Cuadrado were foiled by Fiorentina's financial demand.

In brief: Alves stayed, Montoya, his 'understudy', continued - with the added benefit that Luis Enrique knew him very well from his time in charge of Barça B - and the unknown Douglas was signed from Brazil.

Douglas' arrival was due to the transfer ban set to be imposed on the club, plus the fact Alves is due to leave for free next summer.

Until now, though, the right side has been pretty much solely occupied by alves - Montoya and Douglas have played just one game each - and it is becoming a significant issue at the club. 

Montoya is now desperate and the club are at least aware of a situation which is difficult to understand - let alone explain.

And so they have given him the green light to leave the club in January if he can find a new challenge.

Right now clubs that are interested are Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool, Inter Milan and Napoli. All offers are thought to be for permanent deals, although a loan move has not been explicitly ruled out. 

The straw that broke the camel's back for Montoya was the last match against Almeria, where, with Alves on the bench, Adriano was opted for on the right side of the back four.

Montoya felt "humilated" according to the his representatives, who have decided to look elsewhere with things not going as expected since the appointment of Luis Enrique this year. 

Furthermore, Montoya lives in anguish as he has know idea why he is in this situation - he's not been given a reason by his manager. 

Luis Enrique, though, did send some darts in a rcente press conference when he said he "respects [Montoya] a lot, but he must wait for his opportunity... if it arrives. He already knows he has to win it in training."

Some teammates have advised Montoya to be patient and not throw in the towel just yet. That's easy to say, but harder to do.