5 most notable Barcelona panic buys

#3 Paulinho

Paulinho (right) was sold after just one season at the club.

After failing to land their primary target, Philippe Coutinho, in the 2017 summer transfer window, Barcelona indulged in the panic buy of Spurs flop Paulinho.

The Brazilian’s signing was intended to be a stop-gap solution before Coutinho’s impending move from Anfield. In such a scenario, a loan move would have been the most ideal option, but Barcelona instead chose to sign the Brazilian on a £36 million deal.

Paulinho has announced that he is officially a free agent, a few clubs in Brazil have been monitoring his situation for the past few months. pic.twitter.com/4iHYMJFe3U

— 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 🇧🇷 (@BrasilEdition) June 20, 2021

Paulinho soon established himself as one of the first names in Barcelona’s team-sheet, racking up 49 appearances in his season-long stay at the club. The midfielder showcased some of his best football in the 2017-18 La Liga season, registering a direct involvement in 12 goals (nine goals, three assists).

Paulinho played a key role in Barcelona’s domestic double that season, and functioned as the ideal box-to-box midfielder. Despite a stellar debut season at Camp Nou, Paulinho was allowed to leave on a six-month loan spell leading up to the 2018-19 season. He was permanently sold to his former club Guangzhou FC in the winter transfer window.

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#2 Martin Braithwaite

Martin Braithwaite has underwhelmed at Barcelona.

Barcelona were required to take special permission from La Liga authorities to complete the post-deadline day signing of Martin Braithwaite.

Despite losing their premier defensive pairing to season-long injuries last term, Liverpool were massively reluctant to splurge on a new defender. Barcelona, however, showed no such reluctance when Ousmane Dembele was restricted to the sidelines in the 2019-20 season.

Martin Braithwaite made the move to the Camp Nou on a £16.2 million transfer from Leganes in February 2020. The Denmark international has failed to make any real impact at the club, featuring mainly as a substitute following Dembele’s return from injury.

In the 2020-21 La Liga season, Braithwaite made 29 appearances - 18 of which were from the bench. Even though he has been impressive in his limited playing time, the 30-year-old was never afforded a real opportunity to earn his place in Barcelona’s XI.

According to recent reports, the Blaugrana are now looking to offload Braithwaite to ease some of their financial burdens. West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur are among the most interested clubs for the player.

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#1 Ousmane Dembele

Ousmane Dembele (right) has failed to meet expectations at Barcelona.

Almost all of Barcelona’s transfers post-Neymar have been panic buys, as the club have struggled to replace the Brazilian superstar till date.

The now-29-year-old departed for PSG in the summer of 2017 in a move that shocked the footballing world and the Barcelona administration as well. Ousmane Dembele was immediately enlisted as the direct replacement for Neymar, and the youngster made the move to Barcelona just three weeks later on a staggering £121.5 million transfer fee.

Antoine Griezmann, Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele are on a list of at least nine players Barcelona would be willing to part with this summer.

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 23, 2021

While Dembele was regarded as one of the most exciting talents in European football at the time, the Blaugrana grossly overpaid for the Frenchman. The young winger’s transfer fee constituted more than half the world-record fee received by the club for Neymar.

To add more context, transfermarkt estimated Dembele’s market value at the time of his Barcelona transfer to be less than £30 million. However, the Frenchman has shown glimpses of his immense talent, and is likely bound to get better with time.