The 10 clubs Barcelona have paid the most to in transfer fees
Barcelona’s wild spending on transfers in recent years has landed them in extremely hot water, with clubs in England, Italy and even Brazil taking huge sums of money off La Blaugrana.
Despite La Blaugrana boasting arguably the most esteemed academy system in football history, they’ve never been shy of flexing their muscles and bringing out the chequebook if they feel like it, especially in more modern times.
As they scratch and claw to recover from an embarrassing financial situation, we’ve taken a look at the 10 clubs Barcelona have paid the most to in transfer fees across the last 20 seasons, stretching back to 2004-05, thanks to data provided by Transfermarkt.
10. Inter Milan – €75million
Paying the Nerazzurri €75million in transfer fees across the last 20 seasons, Barcelona haven’t dealt with Inter over a big money transfer in a while, but their acquisitions of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Maxwell in the summer of 2009 are enough to see Inter into the top 10.
Ibrahimovic’s big-money move famously blew up in Barcelona’s face when his and Pep Guardiola’s egos couldn’t co-exist, resulting in him being sent back to Italy with Milan after just one season.
Maxwell fared slightly better, sticking around for three years, but perhaps Barca should’ve learned their lesson from the more expensive deal.
9. Juventus – €79million
‘Bizarre’ is the kind way to describe the three signings Barcelona have made from Juventus, amounting to €79million in total.
Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram both signed in the summer of 2006 following Juve’s Calciopoli scandal at a cut-price deal which was reported to be worth around £13million, and while neither really worked out in Catalonia, their transfers will never be remembered as badly as the Miralem Pjanic deal in 2020.
A transfer ‘separate’ to a deal that saw Arthur Melo join the Old Lady for £72million, Pjanic moved the other way in a deal that could’ve been worth £59million including add-ons.
A very above-board and legitimate pair of transfers with absolutely nothing to be suspicious about. Moving on…
8. Santos – €88million
The only club from outside of Europe to make the top 10, Neymar’s iconic move from Santos to Barcelona in 2013 was worth its weight in gold – even if it did end up costing La Blaugrana even more than they thought after the fact when they had to settle a hefty tax bill after brokering the deal.
Neymar’s time with the Catalan giants will never be forgotten. Winning the treble as one-third of one of the most devastating attacking trios to ever play the game, he left Barcelona in 2017 in a world record £200million transfer having managed 105 goals and 76 assists for the club.
His transfer shook the footballing world to its core and while he did so in a bid to get out of Lionel Messi’s shadow and continue on his path to becoming the best in the world, it backfired and also crippled La Blaugrana, who spent the money wildly.
7. Arsenal – €113million
Barcelona have signed no less than seven players from the Gunners in the last 20 years, to varying levels of success.
Alexander Hleb, Thomas Vermaelen and Alex Song can be considered deals that didn’t quite go so well.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst made the move for free after a loan to Catalonia in 2003-04, and while Thierry Henry was largely past his prime by the time he moved in 2007, the £16.1million they paid was still a bit of a bargain.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang enjoyed a mini-revival when moving to La Blaugrana in 2021, but perhaps the biggest move of all was Cesc Fabregas’ transfer back to Barcelona in 2011, having left the club to sign for Arsenal aged 16.
Controversially, he was back in London with Chelsea by 2014.
6. Ajax – €120million
Three players for €120million sounds like a lot of money when you consider that Barcelona bought seven players from Arsenal for €113million, but quality over quantity always prevails.
Sergino Dest’s move to La Liga didn’t really work out after signing for the club in a difficult time in 2020.
And while it’s taken Frenkie de Jong a while to find his role in the side after initially being touted as Sergio Busquets’ replacement, he’s undoubtedly been worth the £65million he cost in 2019 and would’ve moved to Manchester United for a profit if not for deferred wages.
Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillesen is the only other player Barcelona have signed from Ajax in the last 20 seasons, signing for just over £11million following an impressive World Cup in 2014. He was later sold to Valencia for over £30million.
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5. Borussia Dortmund – €135million
Ousmane Dembele’s big-money switch from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona in the same summer Neymar left the club keeps the German side as high as fifth in the list, some seven years later.
The French winger at times looked every bit worth the money, but also looked like a terrible purchase in the same breath when bogged down by injuries and subsequent inconsistency.
He left for Paris Saint-Germain himself in the summer of 2023 in a £43.5million deal, having won three La Liga titles and scored 40 goals in 185 games.
4. Atletico Madrid – €154million
Despite spending a fair whack on their three acquisitions from Atletico Madrid, all three deals pretty much blew up in Barcelona’s face.
Arda Turan went from one of the best in Europe to falling off the face of the earth, while Antoine Griezmann had essentially waited too long to decide he wanted to leave Atletico, signed for Barcelona for an eye-watering £108million only to flop with Lionel Messi playing in his best position, before running back to Atleti after 18 months.
By default, Joao Felix’s temporary switch to Catalonia was the most successful deal, then, purely because it didn’t cost Barcelona an arm and a leg. All in all, terrible business.
READ: Ranking Barcelona’s 17 weirdest signings from 2000 until now
3. Valencia – €168million
Barcelona used to enjoy buying from fellow Spanish side Valencia having signed seven players from Los Ches over the last 20 seasons, but they haven’t been back to deal with them since they signed goalkeeper Neto for £23million in 2019.
Jeison Murillo spent a season with the club for a nominal loan fee in 2019, but a buy option wasn’t used.
Andre Gomes and Paco Alcacer both joined the club from Valencia in the summer of 2016, but largely flattered to deceive, while Jeremy Mathieu won the treble after signing despite playing back-up in defence.
David Villa and Jordi Alba were the two major success stories, the latter in particular becoming a club legend at Barcelona in a trophy-laden 11-year stay.
2. Sevilla – €180million
In the last 20 seasons, Barcelona have signed a staggering eight players from their rivals in Seville, most of whom have been largely successful.
Jules Kounde’s €50million/£41.85million transfer in 2022 accounts for a fair whack of that total sum, as did Dani Alves’ £23.5million switch back in 2008.
Other signings include Seydou Keita, the recent stop-gap signing of Luuk de Jong – who impressed in a tough time for the club – and moves for Ivan Rakitic and Aleix Vidal, the latter of whom flattered to deceive.
Clement Lenglet impressed in his first few years after signing but eventually ended up overstaying his welcome, while Adriano arrived in 2010 and spent six years with the club, but never made much of a splash.
1. Liverpool – €237million
Liverpool sit comfortably at the top of the table with Barcelona spending an insane €237million on just three players from the Reds in the last 20 seasons.
Javier Mascherano made the switch in 2010 and – after a position change to centre-back – became one of the club’s most important players over the next decade.
Barcelona looked past a worldwide football ban when signing Luis Suarez for £75million in 2014 – a decision which absolutely paid off even if it ended in tears in 2020.
The one blemish on the record, though, and the most costly one of all, was their capture of Philippe Coutinho in a whopping £142million deal halfway through the 2017-18 campaign.
The Brazilian playmaker never truly settled at the club and was never able to live up to the transfer fee – a deal which went a long way in Barcelona falling into their perilous financial situation.