'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#3 Mauro Icardi
Argentine striker Mauro Icardi followed in the footsteps of his illustrious compatriot Lionel Messi to arrive at Barcelona's famed La Masia youth academy.
Icardi excelled in the club's U-17 and U-19 ranks but a breakthrough with the Barcelona senior team never materialised before he was loaned out to Sampdoria in 2011 who were playing in Serie B at the time. He scored ten goals in his debut Serie A season in 2011-12 before Inter Milan came calling.
The Argentinian, who is renowned for his technical intelligence and scoring prowess, enjoyed a success six-season stint with the Italian giants, scoring 124 goals in over 200 appearances in various competitions before falling out of favour with the club.
Icardi joined Paris St. Germain on loan at the start of the 2019-20 season and hit the ground running. He ended the campaign with 20 goals in 34 games while also featuring in the Champions League final.
The striker expectedly has no regrets about leaving Barcelona as he has gone on to find success at some of the biggest clubs in the world.
"Barcelona's game was very different to my characteristics, and we opted a change to Italian football, which is the one that suits me the most. Leaving Barcelona changed my life. The system of Barcelona changed, as strikers went into the background. In the first team, Samuel Eto'o was moved to the wing, as was David Villa and even [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic spent almost a year on the bench.
"That step to Italian football was decisive and I am convinced that without that decision, today I wouldn't be a professional footballer."
#4 Thiago Alcantara
Thiago Alcantara made his Barcelona debut in 2009 but first-team opportunities were hard to come by during his first two seasons at the club.
The creative playmaker, who is renowned for his dribbling and ball-keeping prowess, saw more game-time in 2011-12 and the season after as he scored seven goals in over 80 appearances for Barcelona during this period.
However, the versatile midfielder was still not an automatic starter. With an eye on making Spain's team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Alcantara knew that he had to start more often than he was doing.
It was at this time that former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola took over the reins at Bayern Munich. Aware of Alcantara's attributes, the Spanish tactician made the Brazil-born player his first signing at Bavaria, and there would be no looking back for the player after that.
During a hugely successful trophy-laden stint with Bayern, Alcantara was one of the automatic starters in the team. He excelled in a bevvy of midfield positions and won 16 trophies for the Bavarian giants, a tally that included a continental treble last season.
Speaking about his decision to leave Barcelona, Alcantara said that though he was grateful to the Catalan club for giving him the opportunity to play for them, the desire for more first-team football eventually forced him to move on from Camp Nou.
"I have always wanted to play and since that wasn’t possible with Barça I had to leave to find the joy in playing football again. To me playing is more important than winning a trophy. In the end you always ask yourself, ‘To what extent I have contributed to the win?’"
"I will always be grateful to Barcelona, but I left because I didn’t want to be just one of the many. We, the players that were (working to make the first team), always had the dream to reach the first team and, once we get there, we want to play and know that we can become regulars."
#5 Zlatan Ibrahimovich
The much-travelled Zlatan Ibrahimovich landed at Barcelona from Inter Milan in 2009 following a swap deal that involved Samuel Eto'o going the other way.
Ibrahimovich didn't disappoint his newest employers on the goal front, hitting the ground running by scoring five times in as many starts for Barcelona. However, the honeymoon period was soon over as the big Swedish striker was moved away from his preferred centre-forward position as the club's talisman Lionel Messi wished to play there.
Then Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola had no qualms in acceding to Messi's request by asking Ibrahimovich to start wide. The decision expectedly didn't go too well with the former Sweden international. Ibrahimovich's productivity began to dwindle as he couldn't quite strike up a 'connection' with Messi on the field and his relationship with the boss deteriorated beyond repair.
Nevertheless, Ibrahimovich scored a creditable 16 Liga goals, but his Camp Nou days were already numbered. At the end of the season, the Swedish striker had his 'unhappy' stint cut short and moved back to Italy where he joined AC Milan.
The 38-year-old is apparently still not in talking terms with Guardiola, but the Spanish tactician has had only good words to say about the prolific striker.
“I have a lot of respect for Zlatan and what he has done in the football world and his career. He has had a big impact everywhere he has been and he is an amazing talent, one of the best around. The best players always have an impact. The big players always bring their talent to a club immediately. You can see they don’t need time to adapt to a new league or understand another country.”
