5 worst swap deals in football history

#3: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan to Barcelona) - Samuel Eto'o swap deal (Barcelona to Inter Milan)

Zlatan Ibrahimovich struggled to produce the goods at Barcelona

Even though many questioned the necessity and wisdom behind this swap deal, no one could have predicted the disastrous consequences that would follow.

Samuel Eto'o was a vital part of the Barcelona squad that had just dominated Europe and Spain, winning sextuplet of Champions League, Copa del Rey, La Liga, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. However, Barcelona agreed to offload the Cameroonian for Zlatan Ibrahimovich.

There's no denying that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a fantastic player, but there was't really any sound logic to replace the talismanic Cameroonian with the Swede. Barcelona had to part with Samuel Eto'o and around € 43 miillion for Inter Milan's Ibrahimovic.

At Inter, Samuel Eto'o went to emulate the success he had enjoyed at Barcelona, winning the treble of Champions League, Serie A and Copa Italia titles. Inter Milan beat Barcelona in that season's Champions League semifinal.

On the other hand, Ibrahimovic had a terrible time at Barcelona, where he had several altercations with Pep Guariola before leaving Camp Nou after an underwhelming season.

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#2: Francesco Coco (AC Milan to Inter Milan) - Clarence Seedorf (Inter Milan to AC Milan)

This swap deal made little sense.

The Sameul Eto'o - Zlatan Ibrahimovic deal was an example of a swap deal that went right and perhaps even exceeded expectations for Italian football club nter Milan. The deal involving Francesco Coco and Clarence Seedorf made little sense, though. I know what you're thinking - who is Francesco Coco and why did Inter Milan decide to bring him in exchange for Dutch legend Clarence Seedorf?

Seedorf had already won two Champions League trophies with Real Madrid and went on collect to collect two more with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007. His glittering career at AC Milan also included two Serie A titles where he showed promise in his early years.

Like Seedorf at Inter, Francesco Coco was also a fairlsuccessful player at AC Milan; he was even expected to replace Paolo Maldini at one point but his growth seemed to stagnate at the Italian football club.

Coco went on to have a pretty forgettable time at Inter Milan, never being in the news for the right reasons. He retired at the age of 30 to try his luck in Hollywood, where he unsurprisingly failed to make a mark.

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#1: Fabio Cannavaro (Inter Milan to Juventus) - Fabian Carini (Juventus to Inter Milan)

A future World Cup and Ballon d'or winner

This was another football transfer deal carried out by Inter Milan that left football fans across the world questioning the logic behind the move. Again, what were Inter Milan thinking? Who in their right mind would swap Fabio Cannavaro, one of the greatest defenders in the history of football, for a back up keeper? But Inter did just that.

Although Cannavaro had faced injury issues, he was still a top defender. He went on to win two Serie A titles with Juventus in as many seasons.

After the Calciopoli scandal, the Bianconeri were stripped of both their titles and relegated to Serie B. That led to Cannavaro leaving the Turin football club to join Real Madrid. Cannavaro of course, won the FIFA World Cup and the Ballon d'or in 2006.

The swap deal involving Fabio Corini moving from Juventus to Inter made sense from the former's perspective. Carini hardly made any appearances for Juventus in the four years he stayed with them. However, even at Inter, he featured in just four games in three years before shipped off to Spanish minnows Real Murcia.

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