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Barcelona have a rich history of failed big-money transfers. Players like Andre Gomes and Arda Turan cost the club a fortune in recent years, only to be shown the exit door after failing to find their feet.
However, the aforementioned duo are nowhere near the top when we look at the most expensive big-money flops in the club's history. The Blaugrana have recorded many such cases over the years, with a significant number of them coming during the last administration.
Josep Maria Bartomeu's tenure was characterized by reckless spending that has come back to cripple the club's financial health. Most of the expensive signings made under the former Barcelona president have failed to live up to expectations and have become increasingly hard to move on as well.
With these players still at Camp Nou, it wouldn't be a bad idea to see how they compare with other big-money flops in the club's history. On that note, we present to you the top 5 big-money signings that failed in the Catalan capital.
#5 Malcom
We begin the list with Brazilian attacker Malcom. The winger controversially stalled on a move to Roma to join Barcelona in the summer of 2018. He was signed from Bordeaux in a deal worth €41 million but couldn't get his career off the ground in Catalonia.
Malcom made 24 appearances for the club and contributed four goals and two assists. He couldn't convince the manager with his displays on the pitch and was offloaded to Zenit Saint Petersburg just a year later, with the Blaugrana managing to salvage €40 million from the deal.
#4 Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann decided to join Barcelona just a year after he snubbed the Catalan giants in his infamous 'La Decision' documentary. He cost the club a massive €120 million and was expected to hit the ground running upon switching to the Camp Nou.
Unfortunately, the Frenchman has been nowhere near the level he portrayed during his time at Atletico Madrid. He's shown flashes of his brilliance but has thus far lacked the decisive influence.
Griezmann has bagged just 35 goals and 17 assists for Barca since his big-money transfer to the Catalan capital in 2019. That's not what you would expect from a player that costs you nine figures. Not especially when his name is Antoine Griezmann!
#3 Ousmane Dembele
Barcelona signed Ousmane Dembele in the summer of 2017 as a replacement for Neymar. Fresh from receiving a massive €222 million from the sale of the Brazilian, the Blaugrana splashed almost half of the funds to lure the Frenchman from Borussia Dortmund. His transfer cost the club €105 million.
All eyes were on Dembele to bring some life to Barcelona's attack following his big-money transfer. Unfortunately, the winger has spent more time on the doctor's table than he has on the pitch since making the switch to the Camp Nou.
The Frenchman has suffered a massive 12 injury setbacks in just four years, spending a total of 658 days on the sidelines and missing a whopping 95 games in the process. In 118 appearances for Barcelona so far, Dembele has bagged 30 goals and 21 assists. He is currently nursing a hamstring injury that will keep him out of action until mid-October.
#2 Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona was transferred to Barcelona in a world-record deal worth €7.2 million in 1982. Despite being one of the greatest players in history, the Argentine couldn't live up to his potential due to several discipline-related issues and was offloaded to Napoli just two years later.
As then Barcelona president Josep Lluis Nunez put it, the attacking midfielder didn't fit in at Camp Nou because he couldn't live up to the image of the club.
Maradona's stint at in the Catalan capital was marked by a bout of hepatitis, a little success, fights, a long injury, a near-riot and ultimately, the discovery of cocaine. He bagged 33 goals and 18 assists for the club and also won three trophies, but his infamous record overshadowed his achievements. The Argentine was later sold to Napoli in 1984.
#1 Philippe Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho became the most expensive signing in Barcelona's history when he left Liverpool to complete a mega €160 million switch to Camp Nou in January 2018.
To whom much is given, much is expected. The Brazilian landed in the Catalan capital with huge expectations on his shoulder. He got off to a promising start, bagging nine goals and six assists in the second half of the 2017/2018 campaign, but that is the only good thing that has happened to him in the Blaugrana's shirt so far.
Coutinho spent his first full season at Barcelona struggling to find his feet. He was loaned to Bayern Munich in the subsequent campaign and returned to the Camp Nou ahead of last season. The playmaker suffered a long-term injury just a few games into the term and just returned to training last month. The Blaugrana are reportedly looking to cut their losses by offloading him this summer.
