Barcelona’s 10 biggest sales of all time

Cameron Smith

• 27 Sept 2024 18:06 BST
• 6 min read

Barcelona have been one of the biggest clubs in world football for a number of decades now.

As such, the Catalan side have put their money where their mouth is and signed some of the sport’s most accomplished players.

However, from time to time, Barca have either been forced to sell some of their best stars, or have gotten rid of unwanted players for big fees.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through Barcelona's 10 biggest sales of all time.

10. Nelson Semedo - €32m (to Wolves, 2020)

Nelson Semedo was signed by Barcelona for €35.7m in 2017 and he helped the Spanish side to two La Liga titles in three years.

However, his most memorable Barcelona moment came when he was spun by Alphonso Davies during Bayern's 8-2 Champions League win at Camp Nou in 2020.

The Portuguese defender went on to join Wolves for €32m the summer after that game.

9. Cesc Fabregas - €33m (to Chelsea, 2014)

Cesc Fabregas caused a stir in 2014, with the former Arsenal captain signing for bitter London rivals Chelsea from Barca.

The Spaniard had returned home to Barcelona in 2011 after leaving the club as a 16-year-old to join Arsenal. He became club captain in north London, but saw a return to Barca too good to turn down.

Fabregas only spent three seasons back at Camp Nou before moving to Stamford Bridge in a €33m move.

The Spaniard enjoyed a remarkable spell at Chelsea, winning two Premier League titles and two FA Cup's before signing for Monaco in 2018. He retired in 2023.

8. Jasper Cillessen - €35m (to Valencia, 2019)

Another deal that saw great profit coming into the club was Barcelona’s sale of Jasper Cillessen.

The Dutch goalkeeper had impressed at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but Barca didn’t snap him up from Ajax until two years later.

Cillessen played second fiddle at Barca for three years, making just five La Liga appearances in that time, and Barca somehow managed to get €35m out of Valencia for him.

7. Malcom - €41.5m (to Zenit, 2019)

Malcom was one of European football’s biggest young talents when he arrived at Barca from Bordeaux, with the Blaugrana controversially hijacking a deal that Roma had previously had in place.

The Brazilian winger joined in 2018, but made just six starts all season in La Liga, managing one goal and two assists.

The club was in no position to wait around for him to come into form and discarded him almost immediately, with Zenit coming in for him just a year after he signed.

Despite the failure of the transfer itself, a €41.5m fee was again a great piece of business given his lack of involvement at Camp Nou. Malcom then joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in 2023.

6. Paulinho - €42m (to Guangzhou, 2019)

Paulinho openly admitted that he wanted to join Barcelona for one season to prove he could cut it at the top level before returning to China.

The Brazilian was one of the seven players Spurs signed after selling Gareth Bale, and he never really lived up to expectations at White Hart Lane, moving to Guangzhou Evergrande after just two seasons.

Barcelona then picked the midfielder up from China in the summer of 2017 and he had a brilliant campaign, playing 34 games and scoring nine goals.

Barca loaned him back to Guangzhou for six months the following summer, receiving a €5.5m loan fee, before making the sale permanent for €42m in January 2019. Quite the merry-go-round.

5. Alexis Sanchez - €42.5m (to Arsenal, 2014)

After impressing in Serie A for Udinese, Alexis Sanchez earned himself a move to Barcelona in 2011.

Initially featuring more sporadically, the Chilean had an outstanding 2013-14 season with 19 goals and 11 assists in 34 La Liga games.

That paved the way for a €42.5m move to Arsenal, where he continued to grow into a world-class attacker, with a 24-goal, 10-assist season in 2016-17 putting him front and centre in the shop window as he sought silverware elsewhere.

Both Manchester clubs squabbled over him, with United ultimately winning the battle. But, Sanchez was woeful at Old Trafford, spending just a season and a half there before an initial loan and then free transfer to Inter, where he won the Serie A title.

4. Ousmane Dembele - €50m (to PSG, 2023)

Ousmane Dembele became the world's third-most expensive player in history when he joined Barcelona for €135m in 2017.

However, the Frenchman was soon struck by injury and continued to be plagued by issues throughout his time at the club.

Dembele was expected to leave on a free transfer in 2022, but he signed a contract extension at Barcelona before he was sold to PSG just one year later.

3. Luis Figo - €60m (to Real Madrid, 2000)

By far the most controversial transfer on this list, and one of the most controversial transfers of any club in the history of the game.

Luis Figo did the unthinkable in 2000, leaving Barcelona for bitter rivals Real Madrid in what was then a world-record €60m move.

Such was the hatred towards Figo from Barca fans, the first time he returned to Camp Nou saw the game suspended for 16 minutes with fans hurling objects at him while he attempted to take a corner on multiple occasions.

The Portuguese icon won the Champions League and two La Liga titles with Los Galacticos before moving to Inter for free in 2005, but his move to Real Madrid will never be forgotten. No senior player has transferred directly between the two clubs since then.

2. Arthur Melo - €80.6m (to Juventus, 2020)

Despite Miralem Pjanic joining Barcelona in essentially a swap-deal, a transfer fee was still exchanged for Arthur Melo’s move to Juventus in the summer of 2020, and a hefty one at that.

The Brazilian midfielder signed for Barca from Gremio ahead of the 2018-19 season, playing a sporadic but useful role for two seasons.

Barcelona got the better of the deal financially, bringing Pjanic in for around €12m cheaper, but neither won the exchange in a sporting sense.

Pjanic lasted at Barcelona for just two years before being offloaded for free, while Juventus loaned Arthur Melo to Liverpool for the 2022-23 season and Fiorentina for the 2023-24 campaign.

1. Neymar - €222m (to PSG, 2017)

Neymar’s ludicrous transfer from Barcelona to PSG in 2017 remains the highest transfer fee ever paid for a footballer.

The Brazilian was signed from Santos in 2013 and quickly rose to the top of the footballing pyramid, becoming one part of the Messi-Suarez-Neymar act that terrorised European football over four seasons.

Neymar then joined PSG for a whopping €222m. The Brazilian shone at times in France, but a spate of consistent injury and discipline issues stopped him from developing into one of the best players in the world.

In hindsight, it was a mistake by Neymar to leave Barcelona. He then joined Al-Hilal for €90m in 2023.

The 10 biggest Barcelona sales of all time