Barcelona have got themselves into a position of severe financial difficulty in recent years. That’s at least partially down to some very questionable transfer business in the late 2010’s.
Their biggest purchases all came during that period and a rundown of Barcelona’s most expensive signings does not make particularly pleasant reading for fans of the Catalan club, with far more misses than hits.
Some of those errors are still having a knock-on impact to this day with Barca needing to be realistic with their 2024 summer transfer targets.
Barcelona most expensive signings: The top five
Philippe Coutinho Liverpool €135m 25 (106) La Liga (2018, 2019), Copa del Rey (2018) Ousmane Dembele Dortmund €135m 40 (185) La Liga (2018, 2019, 2023), Copa del Rey (2018, 2021) Antoine Griezmann Atletico Madrid €120m 35 (102) Copa del Rey (2021) Neymar Santos €88m 105 (186) La Liga (2015, 2016), Copa del Rey (2015, 2016, 2017), Champions League (2015) Frenkie de Jong Ajax €86m 17 (213) La Liga (2023), Copa del Rey (2021)
Barcelona most expensive signings Joined from Fee Goals (Apps) Honours with club
1) – Philippe Coutinho – €135m
Many of Barca’s problems actually started following the world-record sale of Neymar to PSG in 2017. The club responded by going big in the transfer market, with two huge signings that remain their most costly buys.
€135m was forked out on Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho but the Brazilian would go on to have a nightmare time at Camp Nou.
After a challenging 18 months, where he struggled to live up to the astronomical fee, Coutinho was loaned out to Bayern Munich. He finally departed the club on a permanent basis in 2022 to join Aston Villa for a fraction of the fee Barca initially paid for his services.
2) – Ousmane Dembele – €135m
Another arrival in the 2017/18 season using the Neymar cash was Ousmane Dembele who joined for a similar amount from Borussia Dortmund.
While Dembele’s contribution to Barcelona was greater than that of Coutinho, the Frenchman was a frustrating figure throughout much of his six years in La Liga.
He averaged just four league goals per season across that spell, with injuries and inconsistent form hampering the talented winger who ultimately left for PSG in a €50m deal in 2023.
3) – Antoine Griezmann – €120m
The third player that Barcelona have forked out more than €100m for is Antoine Griezmann. While the Frenchman has been one of the undisputed stars of La Liga over the past decade, he struggled to produce anything like his best football in the Catalan capital.
Griezmann felt like the wrong fit from almost day one, largely because Barca already had the best number 10 in the world in the shape of Leo Messi.
While he did still manage to score 35 times across his two seasons at Camp Nou, Griezmann struggled to win over the Barca fanbase and returned to Atletico Madrid in 2021.
4) – Neymar – €88m
Barcelona’s fourth most expensive signing of all-time is Neymar and the Brazilian was an undisputed success following his 2013 transfer from Santos.
Forming part of an iconic front three alongside Messi and Luis Suarez, Neymar helped fire Barca to the treble in the 2014/15 season. However, he’d ultimately grow frustrated at having to play second fiddle to Messi, a big factor in his decision to move to Paris in 2017.
5) – Frenkie de Jong – €86m
Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong joined Barcelona for €86m in 2019 following a successful Champions League run with Ajax.
Five years on, the jury is still out to some extent on whether the now 27-year-old has proved value for money. Barca have struggled to find the right role for De Jong, and the emergence of the likes of Pedri and Gavi has added to the sense that they’d be more than open to cashing on the Dutchman, should a big offer come in.
