FC Barcelona's top three swap deals and how they worked out for the Catalans

Swap deals are not a rare phenomenon in football, so one might wonder why is the recent deal between Barcelona and Juventus involving Miralem Pjanic and Arthur Melo creating such a buzz in the media?

It mainly has to do with the fact that, despite the two clubs being financial heavyweights in the European circle, they agreed on such a deal. The Old Lady had to shell out an additional €10 million for Arthur.

Arthur and Miralem Pjanic swap one GOAT for another 🐐🤝🐐 pic.twitter.com/51uxghJOCy
— Goal (@goal) June 30, 2020

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Pjanic will join the La Liga giants after the current season ends, while Arthur will move to the Allianz Arena in a deal that values Pjanic at €60m plus add-ons and Arthur at €70m plus add-ons.

Secondly, it has drawn a sharp response from the fans of the Spanish club because of the age difference between the players. Arthur at 23 is one of the promising talents in Europe, while Pjanic, at 30, is a proven star but past his prime.

As mentioned earlier, swap deal is not a novel concept, basically it is the equivalent of the barter system in the football economy. That being said, many transfer market experts are predicting that these deals could be the new normal for the next few seasons as a primary consequence of the huge dent the coronavirus pandemic has left on clubs' kitties.

For the Catalan giants too, this deal is not their first swap deal and as the club President suggested in an interview with Cadena SER in April, it will not be the last one.

So, with that in mind, here we take a look at the three swap deals Barcelona had done in the past and assess their impacts on the club.

Also See: 5 high-profile swap deals that could take place this summer

#3 Jasper Cillessen (Barcelona to Valencia) - Neto (Valencia to Barcelona)

Cillissen was eager to move away from Barcelona for more playtime.

We start the proceedings with the latest swap deal of the list, a rare one too involving goalkeepers. In the summer of 2019, Dutch national Jasper Cillessen secured a move away from the Camp Nou after playing second fiddle to Marc-Andre Ter Stegen for three seasons for €35 million to Valencia.

As part of the deal, Los Che's first-team goalkeeper Neto joined Barcelona a day after Cillessen completed the move for a fee of €26 million and another €9 million in add-ons. The Brazilian was a sensible signing for the Catalans, as he had proven himself at Valencia in the previous season, helping them secure a Champions League spot and also he had previous experience of having played in Italy at Juventus as a backup to Gianluigi Buffon.

In the 2019-20 season, the players have endured very different fortunes. Cillessen got his wish of more game time, playing 22 games so far, while Neto has only made four appearances so far without keeping a clean sheet.

Overall, the deal was neutral for Barcelona, who remained unaffected from this exchange of two top-quality shot-stoppers.

#2 Ricardo Quaresma (Barcelona to Porto) - Deco (Porto to Barcelona)

Anderson Luís de Souza, or Deco, rose to fame after winning the Champions League with Porto and helping Portugal reach the European Championship final in 2004.

The Brazil-born Portuguese midfielder was one the top of the list for a host of big clubs in Europe in the summer of 2004, but with the player himself adamant on joining Barcelona, a deal was worked out between the clubs and Barcelona offered winger Ricardo Quaresma in what proved to be a stroke of genius on their behalf.

The young prodigy was sent to Porto in a deal that valued him at €6 million and the club also paid €15 million upfront to bring Deco to the club.

Quaresma fared well at Porto but never fulfilled his potential, while Deco flourished in Spain and carved a space for himself in the star-studded Barcelona midfield, despite a peak Ronaldinho occupying Deco's favoured attacking-midfield position.

His versatility in the middle of the pitch helped him survive at the club and become a key member of the squad and went on to win two La Liga titles and the Champions League, making him only a handful of players to have won the elite European trophy with two clubs.

#1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan to Barcelona) - Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona to Inter Milan)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto'o were two of the best No.9s of their generations. In the latter half of the 2000s, Ibrahimovic was scoring goals at will in the Italian top-flight while the Cameroonian striker was consistently finding the back of the net in La Liga.

In 2009, Inter Milan and Barcelona announced a sensational deal which would see the strikers switch allegiances and this came at a big price for the Catalans. They signed the Swedish striker for an effective price of €66 million, €46 million in cash and Eto'o, swap deals do not get any bigger than this.

What ensued from this deal was one of the rare mistakes of Pep Guardiola's glorious career. Having won the treble in 2009, he made the wrong call in selling the goalscoring hero from the Champions League final for Ibrahimovic, a player who caused more problems than he solved at the Camp Nou.

He just did not get along with the manager and despite a decent season in front of the goal left just a year later, initially on loan, and then permanently to join his current club, AC Milan.

He clashed openly with Guardiola on multiple occasions and it is in these confrontations that he said uttered the first of many famous Ferrari and Fiat quotes. He said on Guardiola's management of him in the 2009-10 season:

“You bought a Ferrari, but you drive it like a Fiat.”

"I am like a Ferrari among Fiats."Zlatan gives his thoughts on the level of play in MLS. pic.twitter.com/IiX5T3iScD
— ESPN (@espn) July 18, 2019

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Eto'o, on the other hand, continued his form at Inter Milan and won yet another treble in 2010 and secured his place as one of the most successful strikers of all-time.

Also See: 5 worst swap deals in football history

Edited by S Chowdhury