The fascination of football fans with talents nurtured in their academy has recently forced "Barcelona", like many other European teams, to open their wallet for new players.
The latest purchase for "Barcelona" became Philippe Coutinho, for whom a sum of 160 million euros will be paid over a four-year period. In total, this season, considering the summer and winter player transfers, the Catalonian team has already spent 312.5 million euros.
Last summer, "Barcelona" replaced Neymar with French football talent Ousmane Dembele for 105 million euros. Depending on the player's performance, the total transfer fee for the Catalans could reach up to 145 million euros.
"Marca" calculated that the transfers of P. Coutinho and O. Dembele, including the cost of additional bonuses for at least one player, amounted to a historic waste of money similar to "Real" in the 2009-10 season when Florentino Perez began a new era at the Madrid team.
In the summer of 2009, F. Perez spent an impressive sum of 257 million euros on new acquisitions. The standout newcomer was Cristiano Ronaldo, who cost a record-breaking 94 million euros at that time.
The team was also reinforced by Kaka (64 million), Xabi Alonso (35 million), Karim Benzema (35 million), and several other significantly cheaper players.
After that season's transfers, "Real" no longer dared to spend such large sums, but twice spent impressive amounts on two players - Gareth Bale (100 million) and James Rodriguez (85 million).
In turn, this season "Barcelona" spent 312.5 million euros on these players: Coutinho (120 million / 40 million), Dembele (105 million / 40 million), Paulinho (40 million), Nelson Semedo (30.5 million), Gerard Deulofeu (12 million), and Marlon Santos (5 million).
"Barcelona" became the team that spent the most on new acquisitions this season in Europe. PSG would have broken this record, but the arrival of Kylian Mbappe in the French capital is not included - the full transfer fee will be paid next summer.
