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Over the years, Football Club Barcelona has been lauded for its desire to promote players from their famous La Masia youth academy. Barcelona's youth system has produced some of the best players the world of football has ever seen. The likes of Lionel Messi, Andreas Iniesta, Xavi, and Cesc Fabregas are all La Masia products.
Barcelona has, however, been heavily scrutinized for its performances in recent transfer windows. The Catalans have made some shrewd signings such as that of Dani Alves, David Villa, Luis Suarez, and Marc Andre Ter Stegen in recent years, but have often made some signings that have shocked fans and pundits alike.
Due to the size of Football Club Barcelona, the Spanish giants are never far away from making the headlines. The club has made headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years. Barcelona has resorted to making a number of panic buys at the eleventh hour to fill gaps in their squad.
On that note, we will take a look at the 5 Barcelona transfers that came out of nowhere
#5 Kevin-Prince Boateng - Signed by Barcelona on a loan deal
Otherwise known as the nomad of football, Kevin-Prince Boateng has played for 14 clubs in a career that has spanned 16 years. Boateng is a player that has been blessed with an abundance of natural ability and flair.
His progress and development in the game of football, however, has been hampered due to disciplinary issues and a 'bad-boy' persona.
Barcelona made the shock move to sign Boateng on loan from Sassuolo in January 2019 for the rest of the season. The Ghanaian played just five times for Barcelona during his loan spell and failed to score a goal for the club.
#4 Paulinho - Sold after a single season
In the summer of 2017 Barcelona were keen to sign a box-to-box midfielder. The Catalans were heavily linked with a move for Arturo Vidal, but in a surprising turn of events, Barcelona spent €40 to sign former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho from Guangzhou Evergrande.
Paulinho was impressive in his sole season for Barcelona, scoring nine goals in 49 appearances and helping Barcelona win the domestic double that season.
Barcelona signed Arturo Vidal from Bayern Munich the following summer and sent Paulinho back to Guangzhou Evergrande on loan, before selling him permanently to the Chinese Super League club in 2019.
#3 Malcolm - Barcelona hijacked his move to AS Roma
Brazilian winger Malcolm enjoyed an impressive three seasons with French side Bordeaux during which he became one of the most feared players in Ligue 1. He was heavily linked with a move to AS Roma in the summer of 2018, only for Barcelona to hijack the deal at the eleventh hour.
Malcolm ended up signing a five-year contract with Barcelona in a deal worth €41 million. The Catalans had high expectations for the Brazilian, and hoped that they had finally found an adequate replacement for Neymar.
Malcolm, however, failed to impress and managed to make just 24 appearances for the club that season before being sold to Zenit St. Petersburg the following summer.
#2 Kierrison - Did not play a single game for Barcelona
In the summer of 2009 Barcelona made the move for relatively unknown Brazilian forward Kierrison for €14 million from Palmeiras. Kierrison spent five years at Barcelona, during which he failed to make an appearance at the club.
The Brazilian was sent on loan to Benfica, Fiorentina, Santos, Cruzeiro and Cortiba before finally leaving Barcelona to join Cortiba in 2014. Kierrison is widely regarded as one of the worst signings in Barcelona's history.
#1 Martin Braithwaite
Midway through the 2019-20 campaign, Barcelona were facing a massive injury crisis that had ruled out a number of the club's senior forwards. Despite being linked with a number of Europe's top strikers during the January transfer window, Barcelona failed to sign a forward.
Barcelona triggered Martin Braithwaite's release clause of €18 million and signed him on a four-and-a-half year contract from Leganes. The club were granted an exception by the Spanish football federation to sign Brathwaite outside the transfer window due to the injury suffered by Ousmane Dembele.
Barcelona fans were left shocked by the signing, as Brathwaite was never known to be a prolific goal-scorer. The Danish striker has managed to score just eight goals in 49 appearances for Barcelona since joining the club.
