Barcelona's 482-million-euro investment to achieve third scorer failed

It has been no secret that Barcelona want to introduce Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan. It is their latest effort to ease the offensive burden off the shoulders of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. Unfortunately, almost all the work Barca have done before for the same purpose has failed.

Marca.com did some calculations. In the past five years, Barcelona spent as much as 482 million euros (about 530.2 million U.S. dollars) seeking the third scorer after Messi and Suarez. The following are their transfer fees and performances:

Arda Turan of Barcelona controls the ball in the La Liga against Athletic Club at Camp Nou, in Barcelona, Spain, February 4, 2017. /VCG

Arda Turan, 36 million euros (about 39.6 million U.S. dollars), 15 goals in 55 games

Malcom of Barcelona in the La Liga game against RC Celta de Vigo at Abanca-Balaídos, in Vigo, Spain, May 4, 2019. /VCG

Malcom, 41 million euros (about 45.1 million U.S. dollars), four goals in 24 games

Gerard Deulofeu of Barcelona runs with the ball in the Copa del Rey Round of 32 second-leg game against Real Murcia at Camp Nou, November 29, 2017. /VCG

Gerard Deulofeu, 12 million euros (about 13.2 million U.S. dollars), two goals in 17 games

Paco Alcacer, 30 million euros (about 33 million U.S. dollars), 15 goals in 50 games

Martin Braithwaite of Barcelona in the La Liga game against Eibar at Camp Nou, February 22, 2020. /VCG

Martin Braithwaite, 18 million euros (about 19.8 million U.S. dollars), 0 goals in three games

Disappointing the performances of the above players were, their transfer prices were okay in today's inflated transfer market. However, the following three were either disastrous deals or on their way towards this end.

Philippe Coutinho of Barcelona controls the ball in the La Liga game against Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou, April 6, 2019. /VCG

Philippe Coutinho, 120 million euros (about 132.1 million U.S. dollars), 21 goals in 76 games

It took Barcelona one and a half years to realize that the Brazilian midfielder was not the one they needed. They sent him to Bayern Munich on loan, but the German heavyweights were not interested in keeping Coutinho, at least not 120 million.

Ousmane Dembele of Barcelona runs with the ball in the UEFA Champions League group game against Slavia Praha at Camp Nou, November 5, 2019. /VCG

Ousmane Dembele, 105 million euros (115.6 million U.S. dollars), 19 goals in 74 games

Though Coutinho did not live up to the team's expectations, he was a properly-behaved player – the same could not be said about Dembele. He was always late for team practice, refused to adjust his eating habit, stayed up to play video games before morning training. The young Belgian genius already became a hot potato, and no team wanted to take him from Barca.

Antoine Griezmann of Barcelona in the La Liga game against Eibar at Camp Nou, February 22, 2020. /VCG

Antoine Griezmann, 120 million euros (about 132.1 million U.S. dollars), 14 games in 37 games

It cost Barcelona more than a considerable amount of money to land Griezmann – Atletico Madrid almost took legal actions against Barca over the transfer fee payment problems. Nonetheless, unlike his time in Atletico or the French national team, Griezmann lost his magic and could not fit in Barcelona's system.