It is no secret that Barcelona is always strengthened by a row of star players every season. The club from Catalonia has a lot of star players because of the club’s long history and many achievements. Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr, Andres Iniesta, to Xavi Hernandez have been recorded as being part of the best Barcelona squad.

However, like other clubs, Barcelona also often makes mistakes in making decisions about selling their players. Even their sales had a huge impact on the team’s performance. Here are five star players that should not be released by Barcelona.

1. Arthur Melo
Arthur Melo’s slick appearance with Gremio turned out to be able to make Barcelona smitten and buy him in the summer of 2018. The Brazilian midfielder was picked up by Barcelona for 31 million euros, equivalent to IDR 509 billion.

Arthur’s own performance was quite impressive during his time at Camp Nou. However, after only two seasons in Barcelona’s uniform, the player was actually sold to Juventus in September 2020 as part of a swap deal involving Miralem Pjanic.

Barca’s decision was proven wrong. The reason is, Pjanic failed to impress during his time at Camp Nou and this season no longer strengthens Barcelona.

 

2. Samuel Eto’o
When it comes to bad swap deals, Barcelona have done it once again. This time, the Catalan club sacrificed Samuel Eto’o plus 45 million euros or the equivalent of Rp738 billion to get Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan.

The deal proved detrimental to Barcelona as Ibrahimovic failed to become a prolific striker and did not get along with the then coach, Pep Guardiola. In addition, Eto’o actually performed well with the Nerazzurri by successfully leading the team to the treble winners in the 2009/2010 season.

 

3. Thiago Alcantara
Thiago Alcantara is one of the best graduates of La Masia. The player who plays as a midfielder was promoted to the Barcelona main squad in 2011. With the Barcelona senior team, he managed to create 11 goals and 20 assists from 100 matches in all competitions.

However, when the player was at his best, Barcelona chose to sell him to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2013. In Germany, Thiago has shined even more and has won many titles, including helping Munich win the treble winners in the 2019/2020 season.

 

4. Ronaldo Nazario
Ronaldo Nazario first started his career in European competition by playing for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in 1994. Only two seasons later, the Brazilian striker was signed by Barcelona for 15 million euros. That nominal had made Ronaldo Nazario the most expensive footballer in the world.

In his debut season with Barca, Ronaldo was absolutely sensational, scoring 47 goals and 12 assists in just 49 matches in all competitions. However, surprisingly, he was instead sold to Inter Milan the following summer. With the Italian club, Ronaldo’s career remained special and was able to score many goals.

5. Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez is one of the best strikers of the last decade in Europe’s top competition. The former Liverpool player has spent a total of six productive seasons at Camp Nou.

Not only did he score a lot of goals, he also helped the team win a lot of titles during that period. His best performance with Barca came in the 2015/2016 season, where the player managed to score 59 goals and 24 assists from 53 matches.

Behind his extraordinary contribution, Suarez was simply thrown away by Barcelona to Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2020. Expelled by Barca in an impolite manner, Suarez managed to repay him with an impressive performance and was able to bring Atletico Madrid to LaLiga champions last season.

 

Due to releasing the players, Barcelona’s appearance has decreased slightly. If you choose to keep them at that time, it is possible that the team will win more trophies.