Barcelonais a club that often produces players from their academy, La Masia. However, aside from academies, they are also known to be very active in the transfer market and have brought big names.
However, there are talented players who should stay at Barcelona. The most famous name is Neymar Jr. who moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the summer of 2017.
Here are 5 players that should not be sold by Barcelona:
5. Cesc Fabregas
After eight long years of waiting, Fabregas returned to Barcelona from Arsenal. However, Fabregas and Barcelona’s reunion did not go smoothly.
The La Masia graduate only played three years at Barcelona, Fabregas played 151 times and scored 42 goals and 50 assists. After that he was sold by a club from London, Chelsea.
Together with the Blues, Fabregas played nicely for 5 years. He scored 22 goals and 57 assists from 198 appearances. He also helped Chelsea win two English Premier League titles 2014-2015 and 2016-2017.
4. Alexis Sanchez
In 2014, his final year at Barcelona, Sanchez scored 21 goals and 16 assists in all competitions. He is second behind Lionel Messi, who scored 41 goals. However, Barcelona continued to sell the Chilean player to Arsenal at the end of the 2013-2014 season.
During his 4-year career at Arsenal, Sanchez produced 80 goals and 45 assists from 166 appearances. He also helped the London Cannon team, winning 2 FA trophies.
3. Yaya Toure
The Ivory Coast midfielder was sold by Barcelona to Manchester City in 2010. Although rarely played, he was part of the Barcelona team in 2009 which won six trophies in one year.
While in Barcelona, Toure’s role was always ahead of Sergio Busquets, who was always made the first choice defensive midfielder of the Blaugrana.
At that time Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola deplored his vanity. He acknowledged Toure was a key player for the club. Toure then reunited with Guardiola in Man City.
While at Man City, Toure helped his club win three Premier League titles, 1 FA Cup and three Premier League Cup crowns.
2. Samuel Eto’o
The Cameroon international won the African Footballer of the Year for three years in a row when he defended Barcelona from 2004-2009. Eto’o was the best player in the 2005-2006 Champions League final when Barcelona won 2-1 over Arsenal.
While at Barcelona, Eto’o was very productive at making goals. He scored 130 goals and 40 assists from 199 appearances. Apart from his services, he was forced out of Barcelona because of a fractured relationship with Barcelona coach at the time, Pep Guardiola.
Strangely, Guardiola decided to trade Eto’o for Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan. However, Eto’o proves he is still on a pilgrimage. He helped Inter Milan win three titles in the 2009-2010 season, namely the Champions League trophy, the Italian League champions and the Coppa Italia.
1. Ronaldo Luis Nazario
Barcelona recruited Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima in 1996 from PSV Eindhoven. At that time the transfer value was the most expensive with a dowry of USD19.5 million. During the 1996-1997 season, Ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 matches in all competitions.
He led Barcelona when he won the Cup Winners’ Cup, a tournament that brought together champions of the domestic tournament. Ronaldo also scored the winning goal in the final, and also helped them to win the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
At the end of 1996, at the age of 20, Ronaldo became the youngest player to win the World’s Best Player. He also won the Spanish La Liga top scorer award in 1997 with 34 goals in 37 matches.
Barcelona might make one of the biggest mistakes in their transfer history by letting Ronaldo go to Inter Milan in 1997.
Ronaldo then moved to Barcelona’s rival, Real Madrid, in August 2002. During playing for Madrid, Ronaldo scored 104 goals in 177 appearances. He also brought Los Blancos won two Spanish La Liga titles.
