It could well be argued that Barcelona have never been the same since Neymar left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 for a world-record fee.
With the Brazilian, the club won the treble in 2015 under Luis Enrique, a further La Liga title the following season, two more Copa del Rey crowns and the Club World Cup.
Of course, departures such as Andres Iniesta and Luis Suarez within that time frame will not have helped either, but Barcelona certainly did themselves no favours with how they splashed the money they received from Neymar’s sale.
The Blaugrana received a reported €222million for the Brazilian’s services but blew €140million of that on the signing of Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund, with the winger struggling to live up to that price tag ever since.
The transfer debacle has drawn comparisons to the famous window that saw Luis Figo sold to arch-rivals Real Madrid for €60million in 2000. The purchases made in the aftermath of that sale were also heavily criticised as Barca burned through a succession of managers and went four seasons without winning any silverware.
We’ve taken a closer look at the five players Barcelona signed for a fee in the summer of Figo’s switch to the Bernabeu.
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