5 most overpaid Barcelona players right now
The words 'overpaid' and Barcelona have a layered history with each other, with Blaugrana infamous for shelling out exorbitant wages and transfer fees on players. Years of financial mismanagement finally caught up with them this summer and they were forced to let go of their best player of all time, Lionel Messi, for free. Despite undertaking such drastic measures, Barcelona are still struggling to get back on their feet.
Barcelona and their expenditure lately
As stated earlier, the 26-time La Liga champions have been very careless about their finances in recent times. During the disastrous tenure of Josep Bartomeu, Barcelona employed the practice of doling out mind-boggling wages to underperforming players.
Antoine Griezmann was signed as a 28-year-old on a £108 million fee in 2019. His reported annual wages were around £15.4 million initially, making him one of the best-paid players on the planet with minimum output.
Barcelona are continuing to eye replacements for Ronald Koeman with Andrea Pirlo and Marcelo Gallardo the latest names added to the transfer list! 👀 #Barcelona https://t.co/M6YuEljhE5
Similar dealings with Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho, who were signed for £121.5 million apiece, have left a solid dent in Barcelona's books. Miralem Pjanic (£54 million) and Malcom (£36.9 million) are some of the other notable examples of the club's incompetent transfer tactics.
While recent departures and salary cuts sanctioned by president Joan Laporta have reduced the financial load on Barcelona, they still shoulder a wage bill of £357 million. There are many undeserving players who are contributing to this gargantuan amount. With that notion on our minds, let's take a look at five of the most overpaid Barcelona players right now:
#5 Philippe Coutinho - £146,000 per week
Barcelona's most expensive signing marches his way into fifth place on this list. Philippe Coutinho's procurement from Liverpool, for a record-breaking fee of £121.5 million, perfectly embodies what is wrong with the club at the moment. Josep Bartomeu grossly overpaid for the services of the Brazilian midfielder in 2018, the aftershocks of which can still be felt at Camp Nou.
🤯 Liverpool are still owed an eight-figure sum by Barcelona from the 2018 deal which saw them sell Philippe Coutinho to the Catalans.[Express]
😬 Barcelona are currently 21/2 to win La Liga. https://t.co/eSUxX4StWe
In the two-and-a-half years since, Coutinho has managed to rack up 96 appearances, scoring 23 goals and laying out a further 14 assists in the meantime. Nevertheless, the most memorable moment of his Barcelona career came during a year-long loan at Bayern Munich. The flashy playmaker poetically scored a brace against his parent club in Barcelona's infamous 8-2 demolition to send them crashing out of the Champions League in 2020.
Coutinho has shown glimpses of his genius with Barcelona but his overall performances hardly justify the hefty price that the Spanish giants paid to sign him. On top of that, the injury-prone creator is burning a hole of £146,000 in Barcelona's pocket on a weekly basis. With Lionel Messi gone and Coutinho on the verge of entering his 30s, the Brazilian has one last shot at redeeming his tarnished reputation this season.
#4 Martin Braithwaite - £85,000 per week
No one has been more fortunate in Barcelona's financial plight than Martin Braithwaite, who owes the pinnacle of his career to this. Signed in February 2020 as an emergency recruit, everyone expected Barcelona to dispose of the Danish striker as soon as the next transfer window opened.
Instead, club-legend Luis Suarez was ousted from the club before the commencement of last season, and Braithwaite was handed his fabled No.9 jersey. Predictably, the 30-year-old forward tanked hard with such a big responsibility on his shoulders, scoring a paltry seven goals last term.
Martin Braithwaite 2019/20 stats
24 games
6 goals
2 assists
Barcelona are not serious
#LaLiga https://t.co/BLHDxNQX8y
Due to a shortage of attackers, Braithwaite continues to enjoy at the topmost level of Spanish football, pocketing a sweet paycheck of £85,000 per week. Nothing more than a one-dimensional player, the big Dane is nowhere near Barcelona's level, especially during the club's most troublesome period.
Also read: 5 players who were lucky to play with Lionel Messi