Barcelona have long been known as a club that places a great emphasis on homegrown talent coming through their famed La Masia academy.
Some of the Catalans’ greatest players have emerged from the youth team, such as Leo Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol.
Yet, in recent years, that philosophy has altered somewhat, with a number of big-money signings joining the club.
The latest to join the list of marquee signings, despite his young age, is Frenkie de Jong from Ajax, who will move to Barcelona in the summer after the two clubs agreed a deal worth 86 million euros.
Here is a look at the top ten stars who convinced Barcelona to spend big:
Frenkie de Jong
The latest big signing for the club.
He’ll be presented at the Camp Nou next summer as the cornerstone of the midfield for the future.
The Dutchman cost 75 million euros, which could rise by another 11 million euros.
He had offers from half of Europe, including a very lucrative one from Paris Saint-Germain but he has decided to play alongside Lionel Messi and co. in a more familiar footballing environment, which he is used to at Ajax and the Dutch national team.
Phillipe Coutinho
He was welcomed excitedly by the Azulgrana faithful as part of the plan to replace Neymar and compensate for the decline and subsequent departure of Andres Iniesta.
The club paid 120 million euros to Liverpool a year ago for him but still haven’t found a defined role or gotten the best out of the Brazilian, who looks lost and is in a scoring drought.
At the moment, the acquisition, the most expensive one ever made by the Catalan club, isn’t living up to the expectation that came with him.
Ousmane Dembele
It was the first step that Barcelona took to start filling the void left by Neymar.
The promising French winger left Borussia Dortmund for 105 million euros to join Barcelona.
It was a fee that seemed excessive for a player who was so young and suffered two severe muscle injuries in his first season.
His second year has been better though, at least with what the Mosquito has contributed on the field.
He is the team’s third top scorer this season, behind only Messi and Luis Suarez.
Neymar Jr
Tax controversies arrived, the signing of Neymar was one that was applauded by Barcelona fans.
In 2013, he was chased by all of Europe’s elite but it was the Catalan club who won the race for his signature.
The definitive explosion occurred in his second campaign at the Camp Nou, the foundation of the MSN.
But it the end, as Messi was and is still the best of them all, he decided to accept the multimillions of PSG to become the most expensive player ever.
Luis Suarez
After two unsatisfactory experiences with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o, Messi finally found the perfect attacking foil in Suarez.
The Uruguayan was announced shortly after receiving a FIFA sanction for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in Brazil.
As a result of that, he couldn’t make his Barcelona debut until the end of October.
It cost him at the start but in the end, he was decisive, as he has been so often for the Blaugrana.
He remains a key player at 32 years of age and his signing was also one that was greeted with excitement.
Cesc Fabregas
His signing closed a circle as the man who grew up in the Premier League returned home to play with contemporaries Messi and Gerard Pique under Pep Guardiola.
Everything appeared perfect and it seemed a dream move but the expectation was never fulfilled.
He worked much better as a playmaker than he did as a true midfielder.
The numbers were decent but he was never indisputable and a certain starter, which is why he returned to England in 2014.
David Villa
Before allowing Ibrahimovic to join AC Milan, the World Cup in South Africa and the elections that catapulted Sandro Rosell to the club presidency, Barcelona presented Spain’s leading striker David Villa.
Arriving from Valencia, he settled well at Barcelona, who will always appreciate the work he did at the peak of his powers in 2010 and 2011.
Scored twice in the 5-0 win over Madrid and closed out the Champions League final win at Wembley.
Months later, a broken leg set him back and he wasn’t the same after that as he left, in fact was almost gifted to Atletico Madrid.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The Camp Nou was filled to welcome the star and there was even a pitch invasion to welcome him in 2009.
The Swede had blown the public away at Ajax, Juventus and Inter and landed with big expectations and promised to make the fans forget about Eto’o, who moved the other way to the Nerazzurri as part of the deal.
The quality of ‘Ibra’ was never in doubt.
However, the problem was his understanding with Messi and therefore, he joined Milan the following year.
Dani Alves
Best 6-minute compilation you will see for a long time. How Leo Messi and Dani Alves gave the one-two a new dimension. So difficult, so good.pic.twitter.com/HIMs3T2VjB
— Sjors van Veen (@SjorsvVeen) January 22, 2019
The Brazilian had an incredible time at Barcelona during his years marauding down the right.
The excitement that came with his arrival in 2008, given that he was close to both Real Madrid and Chelsea, were with good reason as he enjoyed a fine rapport with Messi and was a mainstay under Guardiola, Tito Vilanova, Tata Martino and Luis Enrique.
Aside from Messi, he is the foreigner with the most appearances in club history.
Thierry Henry
The Frenchman, a world and European champion, spent several summers in the plans of Barcelona.
They even managed to get the better of him during a Champions League final win in 2006.
A voracious goalscorer with an unmistakable style and years of dominance in England under his best, the fans were excited by his arrival and packed out the stadium for his presentation in 2007 after Joan Laporta got the deal over the line.
Henry played for the Blaugrana for three seasons and his best was undoubtedly the second as he was instrumental in helping win the 2009 treble.