Football: Top 10 most profitable transfers

6. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Internazionale to Barcelona, 2009)

Bought for: £22m Sold for: £60m Profit: £38m

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, then of Inter Milan takes a penalty kick during a a game against Club America in the World Football Challenge in 2009 (Getty Images)

What on earth were Barcelona smoking when they signed this deal? Not only did they offer £40m to Inter, but added in Samuel Eto’o for good measure, to make the potential value of the deal a ridiculous £60m. Although one of the best forwards in the world, even today, Zlatan was not really a success at Barca and left 2 years later, while Eto’o led Inter to a historic treble in his very first season there.