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Barcelona have made quite a few terrible decisions in the transfer window in the recent past.
Barcelona is a club that's viewed as one of football's grandest homes. The club has maintained its legendary status for over a century and still houses some of the finest footballers on the planet, including the exemplary Lionel Messi.
However, the club has come into disrepute over the past few seasons by virtue of its reckless spending and some terrible management from its top brass.
Things came to a head when former president Josep Maria Bartomeu had to resign as president and was recently booked by police for his involvement in a smear campaign that was run against the club's own players and legends.
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Barcelona are slowly finding their feet under Ronald Koeman but owing to the mismanagement they've been subjected to over the years, they will need to be extremely cautious in the summer transfer window.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five of the worst mistakes that Barcelona have made in the transfer market.
5 biggest transfer mistakes in Barcelona history
#5 Letting Luis Suarez leave and join Atletico Madrid
Luis Suarez has been one of the best strikers of the 21st century. After absolutely tearing it up for Liverpool in the Premier League, Luis Suarez secured a dream move to Barcelona in 2014. He flourished alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar and formed one of the deadliest attacking trios in the history of football, widely known as the MSN.
Luis Suarez scored a whopping 198 goals for Barcelona over the course of just six seasons with the Catalans. He even won the European Golden Shoe with Barcelona, becoming the only player other than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to do it.
Even in what would be his final season at Barcelona, the Uruguayan scored 21 goals and provided 10 assists from across La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. But strangely, Barcelona decided it was time to cut Suarez loose.
The manner in which they went about it was rather disgraceful to say the least. Suarez wasn't kept in the loop and was told that he doesn't have a future as they think he is too old to be the striker for Barcelona.
The joke is on them though. Luis Suarez has joined title-rivals Atletico Madrid and is leading their title charge from the front. He has already scored 18 goals and provided two assists from across 24 appearances in La Liga this term.
To make things worse, Lionel Messi publicly expressed his discontent with the way his close friend and strike partner Luis Suarez was treated by the club and reports suggest that it has contributed to Messi wanting to leave the club as well.
#4 Overpaying for Philippe Coutinho
Neymar's departure went a long way towards filling Barcelona's coffers for the foreseeable future. But the way in which those funds were managed was rather appalling, to say the least.
Coutinho was roped in from Liverpool for a whopping £142 million. While he is not a like-for-like replacement for Neymar Jr., he was tipped to become one of Barcelona's most important players. However, after impressing initially, Coutinho's form waned and he was loaned out to Bayern Munich shortly after.
Coutinho has since returned to the club after winning the continental treble with the Bavarians but he just doesn't look like a good fit for the Catalans. Don't get us wrong, he is a wonderful midfielder but £142 million ought to sort a club out for good whereas this signing just added to Barcelona's problems.
#3 Overpaying for Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele
Barcelona seem to have replaced their quest for sustained success with a thirst for immediate rewards. Following Neymar's departure to Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona wanted to strengthen their left wing and they threw €105 million (plus add-ons worth €40 million) at Borussia Dortmund to secure the services of young Ousmane Dembele.
While there's no doubting the kind of talent that Dembele possesses, it was still an ill-advised signing especially for that kind of money. Dembele is extremely injury-prone and has had several run-ins with the club's management due to his lack of discipline.
Three and a half years after joining Barcelona, Dembele is yet to justify his price tag and even the Catalans can't decide whether to keep him or sell him. Meanwhile, Griezmann is another player that Barcelona had wanted for a long time.
They ultimately got their wish in the summer of 2019 after triggering his €120 million release clause. Griezmann had a largely underwhelming debut season and though he has shown signs of getting better this term, he hasn't looked like a player any club would have spent in excess of €100 million for.
Also, Antoine Griezmann will turn 30 in a few days, which makes the amount Barcelona shelled out for him all the more ridiculous.
#2 The Miralem Pjanic - Arthur Melo swap deal
It's one of those swap deals that just doesn't make sense for Barcelona, however you may want to look at it. In Arthur Melo, Barcelona had perhaps the most promising young midfielder in Europe and at the age of 22, he was already being likened to Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
On the other side was Miralem Pjanic, a 30-year-old midfielder who is definitely one of the best holding midfielders of his generation.
But given how he is already into his 30s and looking at how Barcelona already have an aging squad, the last thing you would expect them to do is swap a promising young player for a veteran who might have only two or three seasons left in him. But that's exactly what they went on to do.
Arthur is slowly finding his feet at Juventus but Miralem Pjanic is confused and warming Barcelona's bench, wondering why he is not getting more minutes and why he chose to come to the Camp Nou in the first place.
Alongside Frenkie De Jong and Pedri, Arthur Melo could have stayed and formed a midfield trifecta for years to come. But alas, it was simply not meant to be.
#1 Selling Luis Figo
From 1995-2000, Portuguese whiz Luis Figo enjoyed five glorious seasons at Barcelona, winning seven major trophies including two La Liga titles and two Copa Del Reys. He was the one who pulled the strings from midfield and Barcelona were a joy to watch as he flourished alongside the likes of Rivaldo and Ronaldo Nazario.
However, in the summer of 2000, Real Madrid triggered Figo's €62 million release clause and signed him. Figo had become Barcelona's main man. He had scored seven goals and provided 17 assists in his final season at Barcelona and was also the captain of the side. His move to Real Madrid signaled a major shift in power in Spain.
It was also the start of a dull spell for Barcelona as they reached just one Champions League final in the next five years as Figo went on to win two La Liga titles and the Champions League with Real Madrid.
Recently, Luis Figo revealed the reason why decided to cross the El Clasico divide. In an Instagram Live post, he said (via Marca):
“It was an important but difficult decision. I left a city that gave me a lot and where I felt good. But when you don’t feel like you’re recognised for what you’re doing and you have an offer from another club then you think about it.”
Other reports have claimed that Figo did not trust the then Barcelona president Joan Gaspart with his future as he believed the prez was making empty promises. Ultimately, it feels like Barcelona could have done a lot better to keep Figo.
There is also a theory that in the buildup to Real Madrid's presidential election in 2000, Florentino Perez, who was an outsider at that point, drew out a grand plan to win the election. Perez approached Figo's agent, Jose Viega, with a pre-contract that stated that if he were to become president, Figo would join Real Madrid.
He also paid them a certain sum of money to sign the agreement. Viego, believing that Perez had no chance of winning the election, agreed to it. However, if Figo did not comply with the demand, he would have to pay €19 million to Real Madrid for breach of contract.
When Perez won the election, Figo found himself between a rock and a hard place. He took the issue to Gaspart and the Barcelona president outright refused to pay €19 million to help Figo out of the situation as it looked silly to him.
Had he just upped and paid that €19 million, maybe Barcelona wouldn't have had such a dull start to the new millennium.
