00:00FC Barcelona is a staple in soccer due to its distinctive playing style, iconic figures, prolific youth academy, and deep political and cultural significance.
00:11However, the team has gone through some dark times, specifically when it comes down to its worst-ever signings.
00:18The club that gave us tiki-taka and Messi also gave us some of the most disastrous transfer deals the sport has ever seen.
00:26These are the top five worst FC Barcelona signings.
00:31Morelum Pianic, $69.4 million.
00:35From Juventus 2020, Barca decided to drop $69.4 million on a 30-year-old Morelum Pianic, who was already past his best.
00:46And it wasn't even about football.
00:48This was a good ol' accounting trick.
00:51Barcelona sold Arthur to Juve for $80.98 million.
00:54Juve sent Pianic the other way, and both clubs pretended their finances looked healthy.
01:01Spoiler alert, they weren't.
01:04The Bosnian Pianic barely made an impact, got shipped out on loan to Besiktas, and Barca basically set fire to their money.
01:11Slayton Ibrahimovic, $45 million, plus Samuel Eto'o, to enter 2009.
01:19Imagine paying $45 million on giving away one of your best strikers, Samuel Eto'o, just to sign Slayton.
01:28On paper, sounds cool.
01:30In reality, a disaster.
01:32Slayton scored goals.
01:34Sure, 21 in one season.
01:37But then he clashed with Pep Guardiola.
01:39Messi became the false nine.
01:42And Slayton was suddenly out of the picture.
01:45The worst part?
01:46Eto'o and Inter came back to knock Barca out of the Champions League.
01:51Ouch.
01:52Slayton lasted just one season before being sold to AC Milan for peanuts compared to what Barca spent.
01:58Antoine Griezmann, $135 million, from Atletico Madrid 2019.
02:06Griezmann is a fantastic player, but putting him next to Messi?
02:10That was never going to work.
02:12Both wanted to play in the same areas.
02:14Both needed the ball at their feet, and Griezmann just ended up looking lost most of the time.
02:20In two years, he managed only 21 league goals and never delivered in the Champions League.
02:26For $135 million, some considered that it was robbery.
02:32Eventually, Barca sent him back to Atletico de Madrid, or a big loss.
02:37It was like returning an expensive shirt after spilling wine on it.
02:41Felipe Coutinho, $144 million, from Liverpool 2018.
02:48The crown jewel of bad signings.
02:51Felipe Coutinho.
02:52After Dembele didn't work out immediately, Barca went all-in on Liverpool's star man for a jaw-dropping $144 million plus bonuses.
03:04Coutinho just never fit.
03:06He occupied the same spaces as Messi, couldn't adapt to the system, and looked lost on the pitch.
03:12He even went on loan to Bayern Munich, where, get this, he scored twice against Barca in that infamous 8-2 humiliation.
03:21That's right, they paid over $144 million for a guy who ended up destroying them in Europe.
03:29Legendary flop status.
03:30Usmane Dembele, $158.36 million, from Borussia Dortmund 2017.
03:39Fresh off losing Neymar to PSG for $263 million, Barca panicked and overpaid massively for Dembele.
03:48He was young, fast, and exciting when he wasn't injured.
03:53And that's the story of his entire Barca career, injuries, setbacks, and more injuries.
04:00Sure, he showed flashes of brilliance, but for over $158 million?
04:06No way.
04:07To make matters worse, he eventually left for free.
04:11A hundred million gone.
04:12Poof.
04:13Vanished.
