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Barcelona is one of the most instantly recognizable football clubs anywhere in the world and as such have had some of the greatest players in history turn out in its colours.
The Blaugrana's status as one of the biggest clubs in the world means that they are always expected to go after the best players, hence it largely does not come as a surprise to see Barca sign the most in-demand players in the world.
The likes of Ousmane Dembele, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Neymar are among more recent examples of this, while players like Johan Cruyff, Hristo Stoichkov, Ronaldinho and Romario are among the greats of the distant past who were bought by the club.
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Barcelona also has a distinct playing pattern which emphasizes close control and places a premium on possession football, with players who fit this mould (if they cannot be found in La Masia) sought after.
When Barca go after players who fit either of the two descriptions above, it largely does not come as a surprise.
However, every now and again, the club completes a shock transfer which no one saw coming. In this piece, we would be taking a look at five of the most shocking transfers in Barcelona's illustrious history.
Honourable mentions - Arturo Vidal, Alex Hleb.
#5 Paulinho
Having impressed significantly in Brazil with Corinthians, Paulinho completed a big money move to Premier League side Tottenham. Despite being a regular in the early part of his Spurs career, the midfield powerhouse largely failed to impress, being effective rather than spectacular for the entirety of his two-year stay at White Hart Lane.
He was once more on the move again, where he became one of a number of high profile influxes to the revamped Chinese Super League, joining Guangzhou Evergrande to team up with former coach and long-term admirer Luis Felipe Scolari. He went on to win six trophies in his first two seasons at the club.
Despite being under the radar at China, Barcelona apparently saw enough in the Brazilian to sanction a €40 million transfer for Paulinho.
The move was unexpected to say the least, as Paulinho went against everything Barcelona sought in a midfielder, lacking the natural finesse and technique that Barca fans are accustomed to seeing in their players.
There was a lot of scepticism prior to Paulinho's arrival, but the 30-year-old silenced his critics, putting in solid performances for the club, scoring nine goals in 49 appearances in all competitions for the Catalans.
After just one season at the club, Barcelona sanctioned his loan transfer back to Guangzhou and his strange transfer was further mystified by the club's decision to sign Arturo Vidal who is a similar player to Paulinho (albeit on a higher level).
#4 Thomas Vermaelen
Despite proving himself to be an extremely useful and reliable defender at Arsenal for many years, going on to even captain the London Club, Thomas Vermaelen was plagued by multiple injuries towards the end of his Arsenal spell and as such lost his first-team spot at the club.
On his day, the Belgian international is a fine defender in his own right, possessing strength, aerial ability and a multi-functionality that enables him to play anywhere across the backline. But his loss of pace and proneness to injuries meant that anyone signing him was always taking a big gamble.
It was a £15 million chance which Barcelona took in the summer of 2014 and it is one which has backfired spectacularly, as the 33-year-old has done nothing of note in his five-year stay at the Nou Camp.
He was loaned out to Roma ahead of the 2016/2017 season making just 12 appearances for the Italian outfit, while he has turned out just 49 times in Barcelona colours in an injury-plagued stay in Catalunya.
#3 Alex Song
There were more than a few surprised fans of Barcelona and neutrals alike when the club completed the £15 million signing of the Cameroonian from Arsenal in 2012.
After initially being on the fringes of the Arsenal setup, Song became a mainstay from the 2009/2010 season and gained prominence for his excellent combination with Robin van Persie which provided most of the Dutchman's goals in his Golden Boot winning season in 2012.
With Barcelona having its most glorious period in midfield and one of the greatest in the history of the game, breaking into such a golden generation was always going to be difficult, as players like Cesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets were on the books of the club.
Alex Song was largely deployed at the heart of the defence, where he was solid if unspectacular. His most defining moment in Barcelona's colours coming when he rather shamefully stepped up to receive the trophy from Carles Puyol when the Barca captain had been beckoning on recently recuperated Eric Abidal instead during the 2013 LaLiga title celebrations.
He was loaned out to West Ham in the summer of 2014 and has since gone on to represent Rubin Kazan as well as Swiss outfit Sion.
#2 Emmanuel Amunike
A member of the famed Golden Generation of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Emmanuel Amunike was one of the stars of the exciting side which captured the imagination of the world, helping the West African nation to triumph in the 1994 African Cup of Nations.
He helped his country qualify for her first ever World Cup in the USA where he scored two goals including one against European heavyweights which almost took Nigeria to the quarterfinals until they were undone by two late goals.
His efforts that year saw him crowned African Player of the Year for 1994, as well as earned him a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon with whom he impressed significantly to get Barcelona to sanction a move for him in 1996.
His spell at Barcelona was totally injury plagued, with him going on to make 19 LaLiga appearances for the club in four seasons (just three in his last three seasons combined) before being released by the club in 2000.
#1 Dmytro Chygrynskiy
Dmitro who? was the expression of many Barcelona fans when Pep Guardiola sanctioned the purchase of the then 23-year-old from Shakhtar Donetsk for €25 million.
The Ukrainian had excelled in his homeland for Shakhtar, guiding the club to triumph in the 2009 Europa League and Guardiola was said to have been impressed with his displays in the 2009 UEFA Super Cup against Barcelona.
However, not much was known about him outside his homeland, but Pep's spectacular achievements in his first season as Barca coach meant that he was largely given a free hand to do what he pleased.
He was the first ever Ukrainian to represent Barcelona and it was expected that Chygrynskiy would be the long term successor to Carles Puyol and would further strengthen the Blaugrana backline with his 'aerial presence and strong defensive skills'.
As it happened, neither of those came to fruition, as he struggled to break into the Barcelona starting lineup making just 14 appearances in all competitions in his sole season at the club before being sold back to Shakhtar for €15m just a season later.
He departed Nou Camp without making an impact and his lasting legacy would be of having an incredibly long and difficult last name to pronounce, while he is also destined to make it into all-time lists of worst and most shocking transfers in the great club's illustrious 119-year history.
