Barcelonas 10 Most Expensive Transfers of All Time: The Top 3 Big Losses
10. 🇪🇸Ferran Torres - €55m
Torres had spent less than two years at Manchester City after arriving from Valencia in the summer of 2020, but he was homesick. The Spaniard left Pep Guardiola’s side after scoring 16 goals in 43 appearances for the club in 2021-22. Ferran Torres has largely failed to live up to expectations at Barcelona so far. In my impression, he is still Enrique’s son-in-law (though they have since broken up) and Guardiola’s disciple. Ferran Torres has yet to leave any significant mark at Barcelona.
9. 🇧🇷Raphinha - €58m
Barcelona completed the signing of Raphinha from Leeds in the 2022 summer transfer window. In his first season, he helped Barca win La Liga, contributing seven goals and seven assists in the league. Now, his form is improving, and he has become an irreplaceable part of Barca’s frontline trio on the left side.
8. 🇧🇦Miralem Pjanic - €60m
In 2020, Pjanić joined Barcelona from Juventus, with Arthur moving in the opposite direction to Juventus. In my view, this transfer deal seemed more like a financial maneuver—designed to help both debt-laden teams balance the books—rather than to enhance team performance on the field.
7. 🇸🇪Zlatan Ibrahimovic - €69.5m
Although Zlatan’s goal record was impressive—scoring 21 goals in 45 games in his first season in La Liga after arriving from Inter and helping Barca secure a La Liga title and five trophies in a single year—it still turned out to be one of the worst deals of all time. After just one season at Barcelona, he returned to Milan—this time to AC Milan—for a cut-price €24 million, largely due to a fallout with Pep Guardiola.
6. Luis Suarez - €81.7m
Luis Suárez left Liverpool for Camp Nou after the 2014 World Cup, signing a five-year contract for a then-club-record fee of €81.7 million. If it hadn’t been for Suárez’s bite on Giorgio Chiellini, the price might have been even higher.
After arriving at Barcelona, Suárez became part of the world’s most powerful attacking trident, “MSN,” alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar. Over the course of six seasons with the Catalan club, Suárez scored an incredible 195 goals and provided 113 assists in 283 games, winning no fewer than four La Liga titles, four Copa del Rey trophies, and the 2015 Champions League.
5. Frenkie de Jong - €86m
After Ajax’s young squad claimed the domestic double and reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2019, top clubs across Europe lined up to poach their emerging stars. Barcelona was one of the first, securing Frenkie de Jong. Now, in his fifth season at Barça, assessing his impact is challenging. The past few years have been, arguably, a “dark time” for Barcelona, making it unfair to single him out for the club’s struggles. However, he still hasn’t fully hit the world-class form that justifies his high transfer fee.
4. Neymar - €88m
Neymar’s performance after joining Barcelona from Santos in 2013 speaks for itself—his time at Barça solidified my unwavering belief that he would be the future Ballon d’Or winner and the next face of football. Unfortunately, in August 2017, he made the move to Paris Saint-Germain for a staggering €222 million. While this deal seemed like a remarkable profit on the surface, the subsequent top three most expensive transfers are all somehow tied to him.
3. Antoine Griezmann - €120m
After Philippe Coutinho’s underwhelming performance following his transfer to Barcelona, combined with Ousmane Dembélé’s constant injury woes, Barça was forced to continue searching for a new forward to bolster their attacking options in 2019. This led them to Atlético Madrid’s star and World Cup winner, Antoine Griezmann, who was seen as the perfect addition to strengthen the front line.
Griezmann’s best position is as a ball-playing forward on the right side of the attack, but this happened to overlap with Lionel Messi’s role. As a result, Griezmann was often deployed on the left wing or even as a central striker, which led to him struggling to adapt at Barcelona. This positional mismatch prevented him from rediscovering the form that made him one of the top forwards in the world.
2. Ousmane Dembele - €135m
At the time, everyone knew Barcelona had a lot of money and was on the lookout for the next Neymar to strengthen their squad. As a result, Borussia Dortmund made a hefty profit, selling Ousmane Dembélé to Barça in 2018 for a record €135 million. While Dembélé’s talent was undeniable, unfortunately, his time at Barcelona has been more defined by his frequent visits to the medical room and gaming room than by his appearances on the training field.
1. Philippe Coutinho - €135m
I’ve always found it hard to understand why Barcelona signed Philippe Coutinho in the winter of 2018, just months after bringing in Ousmane Dembélé. Not only did Coutinho’s style clash with Barcelona’s, but the team’s more pressing need at the time was to strengthen the midfield and find a successor for Andrés Iniesta, whose contract was expiring.
Overall, this deal turned out to be a financial boon for Liverpool, who used the funds to sign Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, and Fabinho, ultimately winning the Champions League in Coutinho’s first season away, and the Premier League in his second. As for Coutinho, he didn’t fare much better at Barcelona; in his second season, he was loaned to Bayern Munich, where he became the catalyst in one of the most memorable moments in Champions League history, scoring twice against Barcelona in the 8-2 humiliation and helping Bayern win that season’s Champions League. Not long after returning to Barcelona from his loan, the club was forced to sell him back to the Premier League at a loss of €20 million.
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FAQ
Where is the FC Barcelona？
Where is the FC Barcelona？ FC Barcelona’s home stadium, Camp Nou, is located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
