5. Alex Hleb – Arsenal to Barcelona, 2008
The Belarussian attacking midfielder was highly touted coming from German side Stuttgart to join Arsenal in 2005 for 15 million Euros, and while he played well there, was often injured or forced to play out of position in manager Arsene Wenger‘s lineups.
After three successful seasons in England, Barcelona came calling in 2008 to lure the Belarussian to their side. Arsenal was only able to recoup the fee they had paid for Hleb from Stuttgart, so at the very least Barcelona received the player for a decent price.
Unfortunately, that was the only positive to take from the purchase of Hleb. After joining Barcelona, Hleb suffered from a lack of playing time and was unhappy with his role off the bench. Near the end of the 2008-09 season, Hleb mentioned that he would like to one day play for Bayern Munich, a powerful European rival of Barcelona’s. This caused the officials at Barcelona to loan him out, not to Munich but back to Stuttgart.
He was never able to hold a first-team place very long, as frequent injuries often derailed his play. Since leaving Barcelona for good in 2012, Hleb has had brief stays in Russia, Belarus, and Turkey, with clubs far below the talent levels of Arsenal and Barcelona.
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