Ranking the 5 best transfer windows of all time: Barcelona

#2 Summer, 2008

Dani Alves is probably Barcelona's best ever right-back

Barcelona signed seven players in the summer transfer window of 2008, but only two of them really stand out: Gerard Pique and Dani Alves. Interestingly, it was also the same year that a 20-year-old Sergio Busquets got promoted to the first team.

Seydou Keita arrived from Sevilla, and had a fairly decent career at Barca, but Pinto, Caceres, Hleb, Henrique were all flops. There were some high profile departures too, including Zambrotta, Deco, and one Ronaldinho, but the incredible success that Alves and Pique have had outweighs Barca's minor failures in the market.

Pique started his youth career in La Masia before joining Manchester United in 2004. He struggled to make the first team in England, even spending a loan spell at Zaragoza, and ended up returning to Spain after having made just 12 appearances for the Red Devils.

At Barcelona, he gradually proved what a huge mistake Sir Alex had made in letting him go, amassing over 250 league appearances, and establishing himself as an undisputed first choice for both club and country. His transfer fee of €5 million seems criminally low on retrospection.

Pique's aerial dominance, strength, and strong tackling make him a force to reckon with at the back. His passing abilities also made him the perfect ball-playing centre-back that is so crucial to Pep Guardiola's style of play.

Dani Alves had led Sevilla to the Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Super Cup the previous season, and Barca splashed out £23 million to sign him. It has turned out to be one of their best signings ever, and at 34 years old, he is still tearing it up in France, and proving to Barca that they made a premature mistake in letting him leave.

Two of Barcelona's most successful defenders of the 21st century were signed in the space of one transfer window, and it's no surprise that it appears on this list.