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Barcelona's La Masia academy has churned out some of the best footballing talents the world has ever seen. Legends of the game including Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi are all graduates of the famed Catalan institution.
However, the tide has shifted in recent years. Barcelona seem to rely more on expensive and extravagant transfers over younger prospects from their esteemed academy.
Since Barcelona are usually one of two clubs with the most revenue generated in a calendar year, signing high-priced players shouldn't concern the Spanish giants. But the Blaugrana are now drowning in an ocean of debt, having accumulated dues that surpass the billion-dollar mark. Poor financial decisions and mismanagement of the club under former president Josep Bartomeu's regime have been at the helm of this quandary.
Big-money Barcelona transfers that worked
Having signed overpriced players on bloated wages, Barca still managed to pull off a coup in the case of certain players. The €75m transfer of Frenkie de Jong in 2019 has proved to be a stroke of genius, with the Dutch midfielder becoming a main-stay in Barcelona's midfield. Another smart piece of business conducted by the Blaugrana was the €5m acquisition of a teenage Pedri, who transcended the 50 appearances checkpoint in just one season at the Camp Nou. The likes of Sergino Dest and Memphis Depay have also come in on relatively cheap deals.
Furthermore, the summer signings of the 14/15 season have helped shape the modern-day Barcelona side. That window witnessed the arrivals of Claudio Bravo, Ivan Rakitic, Marc-André ter Stegen, and Luis Suarez at the club.
Keeping that in mind, here we take a look at 10 transfers that have tarnished the legacy of transfer dealings at Barca.
#10 Douglas Santos
A relatively unknown player, Douglas Santos was contracted to Barcelona for years, only leaving the club in 2019. Following a series of loan moves, Besiktas signed the Brazilian on a free transfer.
The 30-year-old right-back was signed in 2014 to deputize for Dani Alves. However, after less than 10 games with the club, Douglas was demoted to third choice due to his abysmal performances. He was subsequently sent out on three consecutive loans, deeming him one of the worst transfers in Barcelona's history.
#9 Thomas Vermaelen
Thomas Vermaelen, at the ripe old age of 35, enjoyed a decent Euro 2020 campaign with Belgium, making five appearances for the team. The veteran defender is currently plying his trade in Japan with Vissel Kobe.
Brought in 2014 following club legend Carles Puyol's retirement at the end of the 13/14 campaign, Vermaelen's career has always been plagued with injuries. The former Arsenal captain was signed for a fee of €17.5m to provide some much needed depth in the defensive department.
However, signing a player with Vermaelen's fitness to be a squad member was a blunder on Barcelona's part. His constant injury problems rendered the objective of the transfer kaput.
#8 Matheus Fernandes
This was one of the most unnecessary transfers in footballing history. The purchase of Matheus Fernandes for a fee amounting up to €10m from Palmeiras has turned out to be a disaster for all parties involved. Less than 12 months after joining, his contract was terminated by Barcelona in an attempt to balance the books.
The 23-year-old Brazilian midfielder only played a paltry 17 minutes for the club, appearing as a substitute against Dynamo Kyiv in the 2020-21 season. Now back in Brazil with Palmeiras, Fernandes is reportedly looking to take his former employers to court on the grounds of an unfair dismissal.
#7 Ousmane Dembélé
Ousmane Dembele has only managed to muster 118 appearances for Barcelona in a span of four years. Signed as a like-to-like replacement for the outgoing Neymar, the Frenchman has disappointed so far, to say the least.
Dembele displayed incredible promise during his solitary season with Borussia Dortmund. He was transferred to Barcelona for a gigantic fee of €105m with an additional €40m in add ons. As a result, expectations from the winger were sky high and so far, he has failed to deliver.
A solid and pacy dribbler on his day, Dembele is still just 24 and is fresh off his first full season with the Catalan giants. He played 30 league games last season and contributed six goals and three assists along the way. This explains why the World Cup winner is ranked so low on the list. If his on-field output and injury record stays the same in the upcoming seasons, Dembele will easily find himself in the top 3 of such listicles.
#6 Arda Turan
Arda Turan's transfer from Atletico Madrid to Barcelona was completed for a fee of €34m, with potential to rise up to €41m, in the summer of 2015. However, the Turkish playmaker made his first appearance for the club only in early 2016, owing to a transfer ban imposed on Barcelona.
Even though he officially left the club in August 2020, Turan spent two of his five years contracted to Barcelona on loan with İstanbul Başakşehir. After becoming only the sixth Barca player to score a Champions League hat-trick in 2016, Turan eventually fell out of favor with manager Luis Enrique.
In his actual three years at the Camp Nou, the 34-year-old Turkish midfielder only made 55 appearances, not playing a single game in the 17/18 campaign. With his market value as high as €35m at the time of his transfer, Turan returned to Galatasaray with a career-low value of €650k.
#5 Alex Song
One of the weirdest transfers on Barcelona's part, the signing of Alex Song in 2012 raised a lot of eyebrows. The Cameroonian's last season at Arsenal saw him create 11 goal opportunities in the Premier League, prompting the Spanish giants to unwittingly fork out €17.5m for his services.
Signed as a cover for Sergio Busquets, Song's lack of ability was exposed when he was deployed at the base of Barca's midfield. His atrocious approach to the 26-time Spanish champions' style of play revealed the mediocrity of Song's game.
Released in 2016, a year prior to the expiration of his Barcelona contract, the 33-year-old midfielder recently completed a transfer to Djiboutian club Arta/Solar7.
#4 André Gomes
A victim of his own expectations, André Gomes was a highly rated prospect at the time of his transfer to Barcelona. Unlike the others on this list, Gomes had everything he needed to succeed at Barca, which made his failure at the Camp Nou even more dreadful.
With a confident Euro 2016 showing under his belt, Gomes' transfer to the Blaugrana was announced just days after the tournament's conclusion. His technical abilities and passing proficiency made him an ideal fit for the team. Gomes was poised to take over the creative role from Iniesta during a transitional period at Barcelona. However, this assumption couldn't have been farther from the truth.
A lack of confidence and initiative in the Portuguese meant that he often chose to play the 'safe game.' Gomes often sat in the center conservatively and seldom moved the ball upfield. As a result, his transfer to Everton was sanctioned in 2019 for a cut-price rate of €25m.
#3 Malcom
Barcelona's procurement of Malcom in 2018 came as a surprise transfer for the entire footballing world. The Brazilian youngster was moments away from being announced at Roma when Barca hijacked the deal in the final hour.
Two years since, Malcom has been sold to Zenit St Petersburg for €40m. The acquisition of the 24-year-old forward seems pointless as he remained on the fringes of the first team for the entirety of his Barcelona career. Not only does the club still owe money to Bordeaux for this transfer, Malcom's career seems to have stalled in Russia after a promising start.
Seldom occurs a deal where all parties involved end up losing, but Malcom's transfer to Barcelona certainly fits that bill.
#2 Miralem Pjanić
In 2020, Barcelona and Juventus partook in a swap-deal that involved Arthur Melo and Miralem Pjanić. A year on from this collaborative transfer, it is safe to say that this deal has turned out to be one of the worst in the history of swap-deals.
Signed for €60m, Pjanić made a total of 19 league appearances last season, of which only six were starts. It became painfully obvious as the season progressed that Ronald Koeman did not consider the Bosnian midfielder as part of his plans. Pjanić is yet to make a goal contribution for Barcelona.
The five-time Champions League winners are already looking to offload the 31-year-old versatile playmaker after a single season. Barcelona have reportedly even offered to terminate Pjanic's contract in an attempt to tackle the financial crisis they have dug themselves into.
#1 Philippe Coutinho
Ironic and poetic at the same time, Philippe Coutinho's gargantuous transfer to the Camp Nou is an accurate summation of what is wrong at the club. The Brazilian sensation became Barcelona's most expensive signing of all time in 2018, with an initial fee of €120m.
With €29m (excluding the €40m add ons) still owed for this deal to Liverpool, Coutinho's hefty price tag was understandably accompanied by insurmountable expectations. However, injuries and positional differences have turned this dream move into a nightmare.
Coutinho has scored a paltry 23 goals in 90 matches for Barcelona. Adding salt to his side's wounds, Coutinho's exile at Bayern Munich saw him score two and assist one in a cameo appearance as the Bavarians thumped Barca 8-2 in 2019-20. This move is quite easily the worst transfer in Barcelona's history, let alone the decade.
