Top 5 worst signings in FC Barcelona's recent history
The world of transfers can produce genuine successes and positive surprises as well as great failures. Below we will review the worst transfers in Barcelona's recent history, which includes, as a curiosity, its two most expensive signings, something that surely weighed on both players.
Antoine Griezmann - one of the players in this list
Dmitro Chygrynskiy
The Ukrainian defender's case is very iconic when talking about Barcelona's worst signings for several reasons. Chygrynskiy arrived at Shakhtar Donetsk at 16 years old and at 17 he was already making his debut in the first tier of Ukrainian football, although the club decided to loan him to Metalurh Zaporizhzhia for a season to gain experience. In the 2006-07 season, at 21 years old, he began to establish himself as a regular in Shakhtar's starting eleven. There he would win many trophies at local level and was part of one of the most important successes in Ukrainian football, the 2008-09 UEFA Cup.That tournament served as a showcase for the defender who caught the attention of Barcelona's then manager, Pep Guardiola, who was in his second season in charge of the club. Chygrynskiy's style pleased Guardiola, who saw in the Ukrainian a player who could be that piece that would help the possession game that the manager liked. Barcelona paid 25 million and took the defender who was never able to establish himself at the Catalan club despite having the manager's trust. Between the Ukrainian's own performances and some injuries, Sandro Rosell opted to sell (against Guardiola's opinion) the defender for his club of origin just one season later.
Keirrison
Curiously, in 2009, another player arrived at the club that appears on this list, Keirrison. The Brazilian was a promising youngster who made his professional debut at 17 years old in Coritiba and began to break records of precocity and goals. In January 2009, he signed for Palmeiras and only 6 months later Barcelona arrived, paying 14 million euros for him. In this case, Guardiola had not asked for the striker and only 5 days after his arrival, he was loaned to Benfica. Six months later, he would go on loan to Fiorentina and then he would go on 3 more loans to Brazilian clubs, until his contract with the Catalan club ended, without even making his official debut in Barcelona. His career never reached a point of success even remotely similar to that of his beginnings.Winston Bogarde
The Dutchman began his career with clubs in the Rotterdam area, where the defender is from, SVV, Excelsior and Sparta Rotterdam, until he signed for Ajax in 1994. He was part of the Ajax team that won the UEFA Champions League in that 1994-95 season, although without playing too many minutes, which he went on to win in the following two seasons. In the summer of 1997, AC Milan signed him, although he only played three games with the Rossoneri shirt, and just 6 months later he was signed by Barcelona, at the request of Van Gaal, who had already coached him at Ajax.Bogarde was not a particularly technical defender and his performances at the Catalan club were not good. Added to this was a very turbulent period for Barcelona, and the fans and the press began to take it out on the Dutchman. The fact that Van Gaal maintained his confidence and wanted to help him improve his image meant that in the 1999-00 season, Bogarde's last with Barcelona, the defender was booed by the fans every time he entered the pitch. In 2000, he left for Chelsea, where he also did not have a good spell.
Antoine Griezmann
Griezmann is one of the best players in the world of his generation and his career backs that up, becoming a world champion in 2018. His professional career began at Real Sociedad, where he quickly stood out to the point that he signed for Atlético Madrid for 30 million euros, which was a significant leap in his career. The Frenchman has been an important part of this stage of the Madrid club led by Simeone. In 2019, Barcelona paid his release clause (120 million euros), making him one of the most expensive signings in the history of football. His two seasons at the Catalan club were not so bad statistically, however those two years were not good at a collective or trophy level. In 2021, he would return to Atlético Madrid on loan. As a curiosity, he has not won La Liga to date because Atlético Madrid was champion precisely while he was at Barcelona.
Philippe Coutinho while playing for Barcelona
Philippe Coutinho
Neymar's signing for PSG left Barcelona with a huge amount of money, first going for Ousmane Dembele (who, depending on how you look at it, could have made it onto this list) and then for Coutinho. The Brazilian's signing, in January 2018, came 6 months after his compatriot's departure to the French club and cost Barcelona 145 million euros, which makes him, as of today, the third most expensive signing in history and the most expensive for the Catalan club. Coutinho had been Liverpool's main star and expectations for him were very high considering his price and the good image that Neymar left (aside from his departure).Although he had a good first season and a half in Catalonia, the fans and the press began to demand more from him and that began to annoy the Brazilian who made gestures against the Camp Nou stands. Only a year and a half after his arrival, he was loaned to Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 season, where he participated in the famous 8-2 of the Bavarian club over the Catalans, also scoring two of the goals. He would return to Barcelona with a secondary role and 6 months later, he would go to Aston Villa on loan and then permanently for a price of "just" 20 million euros.
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