Barcelona have made yet another blockbuster signing with the addition of reigning Ballon d’Or holder Rodri from Manchester City. The Catalonians have forked out some €80m to secure the holding midfielder’s services just one month on from him being named the Player of the Tournament at the World Cup after captaining Spain to the title.
Rodri Heads to the Camp Nou
The former Atletico Madrid midfielder could well be the missing piece of the puzzle as the Blaugrana look to finally end their 12-year wait for their sixth Champions League crown. Hansi Flick already has a wealth of talent available to him in midfield, with each of Dani Olmo, Pedri, Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, and Fermín López all capable of unlocking any defense. The German manager, however, didn’t have a player who could sit deep, break up opposition attacks, and immediately spring his side onto the front foot in a role that former Barca star Sergio Busquets did arguably better than anyone in history ever has. Now, however, in Rodri, Flick has that man.
The result is that online betting sites now make Barcelona one of the biggest threats to Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League three-peat hopes this season. One can bet on soccer at Bovada, and the popular bookmaker currently makes the defending champion Parisians a narrow 5/1 favorite to reign as kings of Europe for a third straight year, with odds on the Blaugrana slashed down to 6/1, good enough for a spot as the joint second-favorites alongside Arsenal.
But Rodri isn’t the only player that Barcelona have snapped up from the Premier League this summer. The Catalonians also splashed out a whopping €80m to sign English winger Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United, continuing their recent trend of raiding the English top flight for marquee players. But which of Barca’s Premier League imports have enjoyed the most success at the Camp Nou over the years? Let’s take a look.
Luis Suarez’s Arrival
Luis Suarez headed to Barcelona in the summer of 2014 under quite a bit of controversy, including various suspensions and bans, some of them pretty recent and one ongoing at the time.
That didn’t deter Barca, though; he was an excellent player, and the club duly stumped up a then-club-record €80m to secure his services. And even though he was suspended initially, the Catalonians were proven right in the decision to stand by their man. Suarez would go on to form one third of the devastating MSN strike force alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar. The trio led the club to a famous treble in Suarez’s first campaign, headlined by beating Juventus 3-1 in the 2015 Champions League final in Berlin, a triumph that remains the club’s most recent European crown. That really isn’t a bad start… and it carried on in a similar vein.
In his six seasons at the Camp Nou, Suarez would rack up a blistering 198 goals in 283 games in all competitions. He would go on to win four La Liga titles and four Copa del Reys to go alongside that 2015 Champions League trophy, before then moving on to Atletico Madrid and claiming another La Liga title in 2020/21. No wonder they were so keen to have him!
Gerard Piqué Returns Home
Gerard Piqué originally honed his craft in Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy, but after finding first-team opportunities hard to come by, he eventually opted to leave Catalonia. He joined Manchester United at just 16 years of age, but once more, he struggled to break into the first team as Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand formed arguably the greatest backline in English Premier League history. He returned to the Camp Nou in the summer of 2008 at just 21 years of age, and this time around, he would finally get his chance.
New manager Pep Guardiola immediately threw Piqué into the heart of his defense alongside experienced captain Carles Puyol, and the results spoke for themselves. With Piqué and Puyol the foundation, Barcelona proceeded to scoop up a famous Sextuple, winning every trophy on offer to them throughout 2009, headlined by a 2-0 victory against former club Manchester United in the Champions League final in Rome.
That was the start of Barcelona’s golden era, and Piqué was there throughout all of it. He remained with the club for 14 years before retiring in the autumn of 2022, and by the time he had hung up his boots, he had won three Champions League titles, nine La Ligas, and seven Copa Del Reys. Not only that, but he also starred as Spain won the World Cup in the summer of 2010 and then again at the European Championships two years later. He’s unquestionably going to be remembered as one of Barcelona’s best purchases in the Premier League.
