5 superstars who wished they had not joined Barcelona
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Barcelona have successfully established their pedigree as a proper footballing institution rather than a mere commercial entity. Their motto 'MÊs que un club' literally translates to 'more than a club'. In many ways, the Catalan giants have lived up to their billing with a hoard of players willingly molding their careers to suit the 'Barcelona way'. Simultaneously, the 26-time La Liga champions have been triumphant in swaying away superstars on multiple occasions because of their stature.
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Many players joined Barcelona at the peak of their careers
Such is the legacy of the Blaugrana that even proven stars find the prospect of donning their colors irresistible at times. Antoine Griezmann swapped the Wanda Metropolitano for the Camp Nou in 2019, despite having signed a five-year contract with Atletico Madrid just a year prior.
Even Zlatan Ibrahimovic could not say no to Barcelona in 2009. Pep Guardiola's false nine system was well-known at the time and the enigmatic Swede knew what he was getting into. Yet he signed on the dotted line to secure a big-money move to Catalonia. Cesc Fabregas, Luis Suarez, David Villa and Thierry Henry are just some of the glittering names on a roster full of legends who fancied a switch. Many of them even confessed to forcing their subsequent transfers to Barcelona.
Nevertheless, dreams that do come true, have the ever-looming risk of turning into a nightmare. Several transfers that were destined to succeed ended up being complete failures for certain players. On that note, let's take a look at five superstars who regret joining Barcelona in the first place:
#5 Arda Turan
Signed from La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid, Arda Turan's âŦ34m acquisition by Barcelona in 2015 showed signs of the eventual doom from the very beginning. The Catalans were handed a transfer ban by FIFA for breaching their rules for the transferral of underage players, forbidding them from making any signings in 2015. As a result, Turan had to wait five months to make his official debut.
Following an average first outing, the Turkish playmaker was handed a bit-part role by Luis Enrique, only playing 1,170 minutes in his maiden campaign. A proper wideman, Turan could never find a definitive position in Enrique's 4-3-3 system with the fabled trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar occupying the front three spots. Subsequently, he made just 55 appearances for the club in two years, scoring a paltry 15 goals.
He was shipped off to Istanbul Basaksehir in 2018 on a two-season loan. The Turk continued to disappoint in his native country and was officially let go by Barcelona in 2020. Having been an integral part of Atletico Madrid's famous 2013-14 La Liga win, Turan is currently valued at just âŦ600k.
#4 Miralem Pjanic
In a similar fashion to the aforementioned Turan, Miralem Pjanic recently departed Barcelona to join a Turkish side following a dismal debut campaign. The Bosnian midfielder was purchased by the Blaugrana for a massive âŦ60m fee in a swap deal that saw Arthur Melo pledge his allegiances to Juventus.
However, one year since that fateful agreement, it is safe to say that all the involved parties ended up losing something. Although Barcelona are at their financial worst in recent times, Pjanic has easily suffered the most. The creative midfielder was one of the first names on the team sheet during his time in Turin. Nevertheless, Pjanic could only muster 13 starts with Barcelona in the 2020-21 season.
With zero goal contributions in his debut season with the Spanish giants and Ronald Koeman preferring basically any midfielder over the Bosnian, Pjanic was exiled to Besiktas. Once a regular Scudetto winner with Juventus, the 31-year-old playmaker will link fellow outcasts Michy Batshuayi and Alex Teixeira at Vodafone Park in Istanbul.
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