Some of the best sales, the most unexpected

For several years now, many footballers who arrived at FC Barcelona as stars have left the club with a letter of independence, or nearly so. The most common argument to explain this sequence is that the chips paid at the Camp Nou are not affordable for potential buying teams, if they want to set a transfer price more in line with the player’s prestige. Sometimes, age is also discussed as a disability. In a way that few leave for free or almost free, FC Barcelona only celebrates the savings on the departing player’s salary. In the last decade alone, names such as David Villa, Luis Suárez, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic, Miralem Pjanic, Arda Turam, Philippe Coutinho and, this week, Ilkay, among others, have appeared on the list of celebrities, soon to come. Good football and economic operations have recently been Pierre Aubameyang, who arrived from Arsenal in January 2022 and moved to Chelsea in September for 12 million euros after scoring 13 goals as a culé, and that of Franck Kessié, signed by Barça after signing a contract with Milan in 2022, winning the Liga as a culé with a goal against Real Madrid and sold to Al Ahly for 12.5 million. On the other hand, some of the players who, a priori, did not have very high expectations left the club for figures that were positively surprising. In recent days there are examples of Julián Araujo, in Bournemouth, who has already been transferred for 10 million euros, and Mika Faye in Rennes for 11 and 4 in variables, while waiting to be official. The following are among the 20 players whose transfer is the highest value.

Paulinho Bezerra

50 million, sixth in historical ranking

Paulinho, Bezerra, Brazilian international midfielder who only played in the 2018-19 season as a Barça player to return to Guangzhou Evergrande in China for 50 million euros, the same figure for which he arrived a few months ago. He left having played 34 games as a culé, with 10 goals and 6 assists as a legacy. Even now he is fifth in the club’s ranking of historic transfers.

2

Malcolm

43 million, what is eaten for served

Malcom, a Brazilian winger who now plays for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, also ate what he served for Barça, but his departure from the Barça club to Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2019 for 40 million euros was still a good deal. This is the seventh biggest transfer ever made by Barça.

3

Nelson Semedo

32 million

Another operation that, more or less, left a technical tie between what Barça cost to bring Portuguese international full-back Nelson Semedo from Benfica and what they received already sell him to Wolverhampton. He did it in 2020 for 32 million euros. Semedo is 10th in the ranking of the best sales at Barça.

4

Yerry Mina

A big business: 30 million

Colombian central defender Yerry Mina is a testimonial signing in football terms, but for Barça it’s a great deal. In January 2018, the Barça club bought his transfer to Palmeiras for 11.8 million euros and in August of the same year he was sold to Everton for 30.2 million euros. This is the 11th sale in the historical ranking of Barça, with a profit of almost 20 million in 7 months.

5

Andre Gomes

25 million that alleviated a failed signing

Since then, André Gomes has generally been a bad operation for Barça, but at least the club got back part of its investment in 2016 (35 million euros and 20 in variables in Valencia) in 2019, when it sold the Portuguese international midfielder to Everton for 25 million fixed and bonus.

6

Emerson Royal

25 million, in an instant

Emerson Royal has donned a Barça shirt for just one summer, despite being tied to his contract for years in a sort of co-ownership regime with Betis. The Brazilian full-back was sold in 2022 to Tottenham for 25 million euros, when he first arrived at the Camp Nou to make a career in the ‘2’ lane.

7

Junior Firpo

15 million to recover part of the cost

Junior Firpo is another one of those players whose anecdotal time at Barça has left a huge transfer fee in Barça’s coffers, although not enough to match its value. The full-back arrived in 2019 from Betis in exchange for 18 million fixed euros for 80% of his transfer and went to Leeds in 2021 for 15 million, although 2 went to the green and white club.

8

Jean-Clair Todibo

8.5 million in 2021 and 8 more in 2025

Jean Clair Todibo was an investment for Barça similar to Mika Faye’s future. The French central defender arrived from Toulouse in 2019 for 1 million euros. In 2021 he was sold to Nice for 8.5 million and 20% of a future transfer, which took place this summer, although it will be effective in 2025. West Ham paid 40 million to Nice for the French central defender and Barça will add In 2025, those 8 million more than the 8.5 that entered in 2021: total, 16.5.