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Barcelona have been one of the giants of the game for a while. Their current financial struggles and management issues do not take anything away from their rich legacy and history.
Letting Lionel Messi go was not what the Blaugrana would have wanted to done. However, that had to do so to avoid falling foul of the La Liga's stringent financial fair play rules.
Barcelona hope to bounce back strongly
The Spanish giants have signed some top-quality players over the years, and will continue to do so. At the same time, they have also sold a number of their key players.
Much to their credit, Barcelona were able to make good profits off most of them. Without further ado, here's a look at the five most profitable sales the Blaugrana have had over the years:
Note: All values are as per Transfermarkt,
#5 Yaya Toure - £18.9 million
Barcelona have had some of the best midfielders in the world. Yaya Toure was one of them. He signed from AS Monaco in 2007 for a fee of £8.1 million.
Thanks to his box-to-box abilities, intense work rate, strong physique and impressive passing, Toure was a machine in midfield for the Blaugrana. He was a key part of the team that won the continental treble in 2008-09 under Pep Guardiola.
His impressive performances attracted attention from Manchester City, who were then newly taken over by the Abu Dhabi Group.
Toure was sold to the Premier League club in the summer of 2010 for a fee of £27 million, making it a profit of £18.9 million for the Blaugrana. The Ivorian midfielder went to achieve more success with City.
#4 Jasper Cillessen - £19.8 million
The Dutch goalkeeper performed very well at Ajax, prompting encouraged the Blaugrana to sign him to replace the outgoing Claudio Bravo. Jasper Cillessen was signed for £11.7 million in 2016.
Although his major contribution for the club came in domestic cup competitions, the Dutchman proved his worth. He won the La Liga and Copa Del Rey twice with the Spanish giants before leaving for more regular football.
Cillessen joined Valencia in the summer of 2019. The transfer fee involved was £31.5 million, helping the Blaugrana make a profit of £19.8 million with his sale.
#3 Arthur Melo - £40.5 million
With Barcelona losing their legendary midfield of Xavi and Andres Iniesta, they looked for a strong replacement in 2018. Arthur Melo from Gremio fitted their requirement, and was signed for £27.9 million.
The Brazilian midfielder was expected to use his amazing vision, superb passing abilities and smart positioning to benefit the Blaugrana. Arthur had a decent spell with the Spanish giants, but couldn't reach his optimum potential.
In the summer of 2020, Barcelona reached an agreement with Juventus for a transfer involving the swap of Arthur and Miralem Pjanic. The deal meant the Spanish club received a fee of £68.4 million, resulting in a £40.5 million profit from Arthur's sale. This does not include the fee spent on Pjanic.
#2 Luis Figo - £51.75 million
Luis Figo is one of a handful of players to have played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. He was signed by the Blaugrana in the summer of 1995 for a fee of £2.25 million from Sporting Lisbon.
Thanks to his amazing presence and creativity in midfield, the Blaugrana enjoyed a good amount of success. He won both the La Liga and Copa Del Rey twice while playing for the Spanish giants. Figo won the 2000 Ballon d'Or award, but surprised many when he decided to join Real Madrid in the summer of 2000.
That created a lot of hatred for him among Blaugrana fans. The transfer fee involved was around £54 million, with the Blaugrana earning a profit of £51.75 million from Figo's sale.
#1 Neymar - £120.6 million
There was a lot of hype around Neymar while he played for FC Santos in Brazil. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona were keen for his signature, but eventually the latter succeeded in signing him for £79.2 million in 2013.
With his mind-boggling dribbling, amazing creative play and impressive goal-scoring abilities, Neymar was a huge asset for the Blaugrana. His partnership with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi on the pitch brought a lot of success to the club. He won the historic continental treble in 2014-15, and earned a lot more accolades as well.
In 2017, Neymar joined Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). The move cost the French club £199.8 million, helping the Blaugrana amass a massive profit of £120.60 million from the sale of the Brazilian forward to PSG.
