5 of Barcelona's strangest signings ever

Soccer - Friendly - Juventus v Barcelona
Turkish goalkeeper Rustu Recber didn't last long at Barcelona

#4: Alex Song

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FC Barcelona v Club Atletico de Madrid - La Liga
Alex Song (left) never looked quite good enough for Barcelona

From a lot of reports, it wasn’t actually supposed to be him. When Barcelona came calling for a player who could play in both midfield and defence in the summer of 2012, they initially looked at signing Javi Martinez, then of Athletic Bilbao.

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But when they refused to pay his buyout clause (Bayern Munich did instead) they turned to another player supposedly of the same mold – Alex Song of Arsenal.

The Cameroon international had spent 7 seasons at Arsenal, but had really broken through into the first team in 2008/09, forming a formidable midfield partnership with Cesc Fabregas and contributing to a lot of the Gunners’ attacks.

By 2011/12 he’d practically stepped into Fabregas’ role, and chipped in with 12 assists in 46 appearances. But he never looked quite good enough for a side like Barcelona, which was why their move for him seemed to come from left field.

Unsurprisingly he didn’t go down too well – in midfield he just didn’t seem to fit in with Barca’s style, and when he appeared in their defence, he appeared to be somewhat of a liability. After starting just 15 games in his second season at the Nou Camp he was sold to West Ham – a side where he was clearly a much better fit.

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Edited by Akhilesh Tirumala
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