Barcelona lost $300 million: players who left for free and are worth a fortune

For years Barcelona have had serious financial problems that prevent them from having competitive teams on par with other European giants such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Previous chiefs spent a fortune on signing players who later failed to live up to expectations, such as Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembélé.

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They left years later for much less money, or even as free agents, and little by little that generated an imbalance in the accounts. That is why in recent years the Catalan side has had to make difficult decisions, such as letting go of stars of the importance of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, and signing players on loan for a short time, such as Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.

But there is another explanation for Barcelona's problems: the poor management of players from the club's youth teams. While some of them have made it to the first team and are very important for boss Xavi Hernandez, such as Gavi and Lamine Yamal, many others left at a very young age for very little money, or even as free agents, and are now worth a fortune.

One of the most incredible cases is that of Dani Olmo, who at the age of 15 went to Dinamo Zagreb for free and now, ten years later, is one of the stars of RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga and is worth more than $50 million. And like him there are other cases of players that Los Blaugranas absurdly let go: André Onana (for whom Manchester United paid almost $60 million this summer), Xavi Simons (currently valued at more than $70 million), Alejandro Grimaldo (a key player in the surprising Bayer Leverkusen and worth almost $40 million) and Marc Cucurella (for whom Chelsea paid a fortune a few years ago). Between them, and a few other players, they total $300 million.

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How much are the current stars worth?

Barcelona's squad includes several very talented youngsters who could be worth a fortune. According to the specialist website Transfermarkt, Gavi has a market value of almost $100 million, the same as Pedri. Lamine Yamal, despite being only 16 years old, is already worth $65 million, a figure that will multiply if he continues to perform well in the near future.