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What's the story?
FC Barcelona, a club that was known for it's rich history of producing incredible talents from its academy, now holds the unwanted honor of being the club with the highest players in the top 10 most expensive transfers list.
Real Madrid only have one player, while the top two spots go to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.
In case you didn't know...
Barca enjoyed one of the most fruitful spells in their history during the last decade or so, in which achieved the unparalleled feat of two trebles, in 2009 and 2015. The very backbone of the team were players who broke into the first team from the famed La Masia academy.
But the trend of promoting academy graduates to the first team has gradually slowed down over the last few years, with The Catalans making giant investments in attracting talents from other European clubs.
In 2009, the club had took a dig at their arch-rivals Real Madrid, when they tweeted that Barca produces talent and Real buys them, but the current scenario puts both the clubs in the same boat.
Barcelona have spent over €1bn on players since 2014 - more than anyone else.
The heart of the matter...
Antoine Griezmann finally completed his long-awaited move to the Nou Camp yesterday, bringing an end to a prolonged saga that spanned over two seasons.
The €120m fee paid by the Catalans make him the fifth most expensive player of all-time, only behind Brazilian Coutinho as their most expensive player.
Surprisingly, Blaugrana have the highest number of players in the top 10 most expensive players of all-time list, with Griezmann joining Coutinho and Dembele.
If Neymar's initial transfer to Barcelona from Santos is considered, Barca account for four of the biggest transfer deals of all-time, ahead of big spenders like Madrid and even PSG.
PSG have two players in the list, Neymar and Mbappe, Real Madrid, meanwhile, have just one representative: Gareth Bale in 10th.
Interestingly five of these players play in the LaLiga. But the fact that Barcelona now headline the biggest spenders poses a very serious question about European football as a whole. Have big clubs totally given up on their academy prospects and are happy to just lure others' prized possessions with their financial might?
