Spurs flops and ex-Arsenal midfielder among eight of Barcelona's weirdest ever signings

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It was officially announced on Monday that Barcelona had completed the loan signing of Sassuolo forward Kevin-Prince Boateng until the end of the current season.

The deal isn’t exactly expected to make Barcelona supporters giddy with excitement, but Boateng’s footballing pedigree is decent enough, if not considered world-class.

In Catalonia, the famous red-and-blue strip has been worn by some of the most established and talented footballers the world has ever seen. But for every Luis Suarez, Ronaldinho or Neymar, there is a signing that managed to baffle us upon arriving at the Nou Camp.

Here are some of those signings.

1. Kevin Prince-Boateng

Let’s start with the very latest Barcelona deal to leave the football community scratching their heads.

The former Premier League man, who enjoyed little success with both Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth, has moved to Barcelona on loan until the end of the season, with the La Liga side reportedly negotiating an €8 million optional fee if the deal appeals at the conclusion of the 2018/19 campaign.

Now, don’t get us wrong, Boateng has enjoyed success throughout a journeyman career that has seen him turn out for the likes of Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, Schalke 04 and Eintracht Frankfurt.

This deal can also partly explained by the fact Quique Setien, his former coach at Las Palmas, reportedly put a good word in for him at Barcelona.

But for the 31-year-old’s 10th club to be the biggest of his career is unorthodox. He also only joined Sassuolo about six months ago and has only one goal in 10 appearances for the Italian club.

The deal also stinks of a lack of planning from Barcelona, who had been linked with a variety of some of Europe’s most recognised strikers to help support their Uruguayan great Suarez up top.

2. Paulinho

Yet again, a former Spurs player found himself on the Barca books after the club splashed out €40 million to bring the midfielder to the Nou Camp in 2017.

Paulinho didn’t exactly do much footballing damage in the Premier League and was sold to Chinese Super League outfit Guangzhou Evergrande.

Compared to Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues, the competition is less developed, the standards are lower and the chance of enhancing one’s reputation is slim.

But, partly by virtue of his performances for Brazil on the international stage, Paulinho managed to buck that trend in 2017 by joining Barca.

What was even more strange? Paulinho actually turned out to be a successful signing. He was their third-highest scorer by the season’s end, and one La Liga and Copa del Rey double later, Paulinho had proven his doubters wrong.

Of course, it then got even weirder. After just one season in Spain, Paulinho was sold back to Guangzhou Evergrande at a profit.

3. Alex Song

Xavi, Andreas Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Thiago and Sergio Busquets. These are just some of the names in the Barcelona 2012 squad who were capable of playing pretty well in the middle of the park for the club. Only a truly great talent would be able to disrupt Barca’s midfield set-up back then.

Step up, Alex Song.

The former Arsenal midfielder, who made 206 appearances for the Gunners without winning a single trophy, was identified by Barcelona as one man they couldn’t be without. And so they paid £15m to sign him, 15 times the fee Arsenal initially bought Song for.

The former Gunner went on to win one La Liga title and the Supercopa de Espana in his two years at Barcelona, where plans to use him as a centre-back never really worked out. He was eventually shipped off to West Ham United on loan for two seasons.

How can Song’s impact at Barcelona be summed up? That awkward moment between him and Puyol at the 2012/13 La Liga presentation should do the trick.

4. Arda Turan

This one is a little weird but this time for the player.

Turan was enjoying a successful period in his career with Atletico Madrid, winning each of the following; La Liga, Copa del Rey, Europa League and the Super Cup.

At this time, Barcelona were under a transfer embargo but pressed ahead with a €40m deal for the Turkey international.

Rather than play regular football at Atletico for six months before revisiting the deal in January – once Barca’s ban had been lifted – Turan agreed to the move and effectively sidelined himself from professional football between July and January.

Why you would willingly decide to not play for a substantial period of time is odd. He finally got around to making his debut in January 2016 but it was tough for Turan to transition mid-season and his game time remained limited as the season progressed.

That Turan made zero league appearances in his final season, the 2017/18 campaign, in Barcelona is telling.

5. Thomas Vermaelen

Unfortunately for the Belgian, he is just one of those footballers who attracts injuries like Jose Mourinho attracts bad press.

Vermaelen managed just 14 league appearances in his final season with Arsenal and had lost his spot to Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny.

So of course Barcelona decided this was a player worth paying £15 million.

Did they think they had magic medical facilities that would rid Vermaelen of all his injury problems? Maybe. They’ve been proven wrong in any case, and persisting fitness issues at Camp Nou have meant Vermaelen is yet to better the 14 top-flight appearances within a single season he made for Arsenal five years ago.

6. Keirrison

“I hope to break into Pep Guardiola’s side, and join many other famous Brazilians who have played here,” said Keirrison.

The year was 2009 and Barcelona were looking to add some extra youth into their ranks as they went full-steam ahead with their desire for domestic and European domination.

Keirrison – a young Brazilian who had played for Coritiba and scored 33 goals across two seasons, before moving on to fellow Brazilian outfit Palmeiras – was headhunted by Barca themselves as they clearly thought he was going to be the next best striker on the payroll.

Just a teenager, Keirrison was sent away from the club instantly, on loan to gain some further experience.

And that was that.

Keirrison cost Barcelona €14 million and didn’t even make a single appearance in a Barcelona shirt.

He was allowed to leave the club in 2014 following the expiry of his contract and he has since played his football at a low-level back in Brazil.

Very weird.

7. Douglas

Barcelona’s previous Brazilian right-back Dani Alves was a major success for the club but the same can’t be said for this man right here.

Douglas was an average player, playing for Sao Paulo and attracting little – if any – attention from other clubs, especially of Barcelona’s stature.

However, in 2014 Barcelona spent €4 million on the full-back who had yet to taste European football and wasn’t a particularly highly rated talent back in South America.

Douglas signed a five-year-deal with the club and is actually still there now.

His Barcelona career has largely been spent frozen out of the first-team set-up or somewhere else on loan.

8. Henrique

This time it was fellow Brazilian Henrique’s turn to show up at the doors of the Nou Camp after Barcelona spent €8m to bring the centre-back to La Liga from Palmeiras.

Signed in 2008, as the Guardiola era was just getting started, Henrique was immediately sent out on loan to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.

Two other loan spells followed and Henrique was left to wonder ‘what if’ as his departure from the club in 2012 meant he had failed to make a single appearance for Barca.

The Brazilian never looked up to standard which makes you wonder why he was brought to the club in the first place?

The post Eight of Barcelona’s weirdest modern-day signings appeared first on Squawka News.



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