Barcelona's five worst January transfers of all time

Cameron Smith

• 9 Feb 2025 23:30 CST
• 4 min read

Barcelona remain one of the biggest clubs in world football and, despite their recent financial woes, they have spent some huge fees on new signings over the years.

However, a number of those transfers haven’t worked out, with several players failing to make the grade after arriving during the winter window.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through Barcelona’s five worst January transfers of all time.

READ MORE: Barcelona's five most expensive January transfers of all time

Ronald de Boer - €7.5m (from Ajax, 1999)

Although Frank de Boer was a fairly successful signing for Barcelona, his twin brother, Ronald, certainly wasn’t.

De Boer scored just three goals in 55 senior appearances for Barcelona and he was sold to Rangers for €5.5m in January 2001 after only two years at Camp Nou.

READ MORE: Barcelona's five best January transfers of all time

Geovanni - €20m (from Cruzeiro, 2002)

Geovanni is one of Barcelona’s most expensive January signings of all time, but his move to Spain was a complete disaster.

After arriving for €20m, Geovanni only played 43 times for Barcelona’s first-team before being loaned out to Benfica in January 2003.

The Portuguese giants then signed him on a free transfer just six months later, with Barcelona recouping precisely €0 of their investment.

Philippe Coutinho - €135m (from Liverpool, 2018)

After failing to land Philippe Coutinho during the 2017 summer transfer window, Barcelona finally got their man six months later, with the Brazilian arriving from Liverpool for a whopping €135m.

Coutinho was viewed as Andres Iniesta’s long-term heir at Camp Nou, but his time in Catalunya certainly didn’t go as planned.

He scored 25 goals in 106 games for the Blaugrana and eventually joined Aston Villa on a permanent deal for just €20m in 2022. Coutinho also memorably scored a brace against Barcelona while on loan at Bayern Munich.

Matheus Fernandes - €7m (from Palmeiras, 2020)

Matheus Fernandes joined Barcelona from Palmeiras for €7m in January 2020 and he was immediately sent out on loan to Real Valladolid.

After returning to Camp Nou, Fernandes spent the entire 2020-21 campaign with the Blaugrana, although his only appearance came courtesy of a 17-minute cameo against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League.

Fernandes then rejoined Palmeiras on a free transfer in July 2021, having only played once for Barcelona.

Martin Braithwaite - €18m (from Leganes, 2020)

Martin Braithwaite joined Barcelona as an emergency signing in February 2020 following a serious injury to Ousmane Dembele.

He joined the club for €18m from Leganes and his arrival was widely mocked by fans, especially considering he had failed to impress during a spell at Middlesbrough from 2017 to 2019.

Braithwaite scored 10 times in 58 games for Barcelona before joining Espanyol on a Bosman deal in 2022.