Transfer: Barcelona to Real Madrid, 2000
Price: €65 million
Impact: A hero at the Nou Camp, Figo moved to Barcelona’s nemesis Real Madrid in 2000 for a world record fee. In his first three years with Real, he won two league titles and a Champions League crown.
Money well spent? Figo is living proof that some things in football matter more than winning: that is – rubbing salt into the wounds of your bitter rivals. Four years after making the move, he was still loathed in Barcelona so much so that a spectator invaded the pitch at Euro 2004 and threw a Barca flag at Figo while he was playing for Portugal.

Transfer: Newell’s Old Boys to Barcelona, 2000
Price: Medical bills for growth hormone deficiency
Impact: In 2005/06 Messi debuted for the Barca first team at age 18. That season he scored 6 times in 17 league matches on the way to Barca’s Spanish league triumph. He also impressed in the vital Champions League victory over Chelsea.
Money well spent? Now enjoying a market value up there with the likes of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi is one of the world’s finest talents. For taking a chance with a spotty short kid from Rosario in Argentina, Barca are set to reap the dividends for another decade.

Transfer: Paris Saint-Germain to Barcelona, 2003
Price: £21 million
Impact: Barcelona had been struggling since their glory years of the 1990s. Ronaldinho’s signing turned it around. In his first three years at Barcelona, Ronaldinho helped the club to two league titles and one Champions League victory. And he did so with supreme artistry and that uncanny grin fixed to his face.
Money well spent? In 2004 and 2005 Ronaldinho was peerless, securing back to back FIFA World Player of the Year titles. He brought the good times back to Barca, and we are lucky to still be able to enjoy him at or near his peak.

Transfer: PSV to Barcelona, 1995
Price: US$20 million
Impact: When Ronaldo was at Barca he was the last player to score 30 goals in a Spanish league season, and lead the Catalans to the Cup Winners Cup in 1996. In all competitions he scored 47 goals in 49 games.
Money well spent? Despite his amazing form, he could not secure La Liga for Barcelona, with Real Madrid taking the ‘96/97 title by two points, despite having won fewer matches and scored fewer goals. To make matters worse, after just one season with Real Madrid in 2003, Ronaldo won the Spanish title. Sill, Barca made a profit when they sold him in 1997.

Transfer: Juventus to Real Madrid, 2001
Price: €76 million
Impact: If Zidane wasn’t at Real, who was going to score the greatest goal in a European Cup Final ever to win the 2002 title? Though a dynasty of success was not forthcoming, Zidane leading the Real galacticos was a sight the likes of which will never again be repeated.
Money well spent? A Champions League, a league title and a few cup victories was a decent – but not outstanding – return for Real in the years immediately following Zidane’s world record transfer. But that Champions League Final goal…