Kounde next? How Barcelona have spent €313m on defensive flops since 2014
Karan Tejwani
- Updated: 28 Jul 2022 14:19 CDT
- 4 min read
Barcelona have agreed a deal to sign Jules Kounde following weeks of negotiations with Sevilla and competition from Chelsea for the centre-back.
The Catalan club have already had a busy summer, adding in players like Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen to the squad.
They don’t plan to stop there as they have brought in Kounde for an initial €50 million in as they look to compete on all fronts in the coming years.
And while the Frenchman is an exciting player and still relatively young, there will be concern, especially considering the club’s recent history when it comes to signing defenders.
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Barcelona's recent defensive signings have struggled
Since 2014, the club have spent big money on signing defensive players, but they haven’t had a great record, with most signings struggling due to injury, poor form or being a generally poor fit to the squad’s needs.
In the eight-year period, the club have spent €313 million on signing defensive players across all areas of the back four, bringing in 19 players in that time, either on permanent or temporary deals.
Some of the transfers failed to improve the squad, many of them suffered long-term injuries, and some were signed purely to balance the books during Josep Bartomeu’s horrendous spell as club President.
Some of the names include Thomas Vermaelen, who struggled with injury for much of his time, as well as Samuel Umtiti, who had a good start but was troubled with problems after the World Cup in 2018.
What a goal from Jules Koundé! 🔥
A great individual effort from the Sevilla defender gives his side the lead against Barcelona ⚪🔴 pic.twitter.com/MYgCLZetdK— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) February 10, 2021
Others such as Aleix Vidal, Lucas Digne and Yerry Mina were seen as depth options, but rarely showed off their best qualities in the time they did end up getting on the pitch.
Some youngsters such as Douglas and Marlon were signed from Brazil, and they rarely featured, while Emerson Royal was signed twice, only for the club to immediately let him go.
Aside from Kounde, the biggest fees were spent on Clement Lenglet (€35.9 million) and Nelson Semedo (€35.7 million), and both have left: Lenglet is on loan at Tottenham, while Semedo is at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Amongst all those signings, Sergino Dest is still at the club – he joined in a €21 million deal from Ajax in 2020, while Eric Garcia, who joined on a free from Manchester City, is also available.
Some other players who were part of that list include Jeremy Mathieu and Junior Firpo, players who had moments, but nothing of too much significance in the grander context.
It could be said that Barcelona’s last successful signing, who consistently performed at a high level and played a role in their success was Jordi Alba, all the way back in 2012 when he signed from Valencia.
That’s a decade ago, and eight years of poor defensive transfers which have hampered the club dearly, both on the pitch and in terms of their finances.
Kounde is arguably more talented than any of those players, but at €50 million (plus variables), there will be hope he won’t end up like the others and make his mark in the Barcelona side for the long-run.
