Dubai: It’s no surprise Philippe Coutinho has been so desperate to ditch Liverpool for FC Barcelona since first being denied the move last summer.
Not only has he got great memories of Catalonia after scoring five in 16 appearances for Barca’s city-rivals Espanyol while on loan there from Inter Milan in 2012 but he also joins a long line of Brazilians to have made their name in the Spanish seaside town, where the food, culture and long-stretching sandy beaches bear a resemblance to the striker’s hometown of Rio de Janiero on a sunny day — at least more so than murky Merseyside.
Coutinho would in fact be the 30th Brazilian to have played for Barca. And there have been more Brazilians to have played for the club than any other non-Spanish nationality proving the side’s soft spot for South American flair, while forging the impression on all young Brazilians — particularly strikers — that Barcelona is the team to play for in Europe.
Although he only made three appearances, Lucio da Silva became the first Brazilian to play for Barca in 1948 and, more recently, Dani Alves, who played 247 games for the club between 2008 and 2016, holds the record for the Brazilian with the most appearances. With six La Liga and three Uefa Champions League titles in his total list of 23 trophies, right back Alves is also the Brazilian to have made the biggest impact, but he isn’t the name that springs to mind first when we think of Samba boys in Spain.
Here we take a look at the five most famous Brazilians to have graced the Nou Camp with their impact on the pitch.
Romario
Became part of Johan Cruyff’s dream team alongside the likes of Hristo Stoichkov, Michael Laudrup and Ronald Koeman in 1993, joining for £10.8 million from PSV Eindhoven. Was top scorer in his first season with 30 goals in 32 appearances and lifted La Liga, his only triumph at the club. Things turned sour the following season as he only went on to score four in 13 appearances before returning to Brazil’s Flamengo in 1995. Between this short and sweet stint, however, his legacy was cemented winning both the World Cup with Brazil and the World Player of the Year in 1994.
Ronaldo
Joined Barcelona from PSV Eindhoven in 1996 for a then world record fee of $19.5 million, but only lasted a season under Bobby Robson scoring 34 goals in 37 appearances after failing to renegotiate his deal and buying out the remainder of his contract before joining Inter Milan for another world record fee of $27 million. During his brief spell at Barcelona, he won the Copa del Rey, the Uefa Cup Winner’s Cup and the Supercopa de Espana, plus two World Player of the Year Awards and the Ballon D’Or but any love for the player waned when he later went on to play for Barca’s hated rivals Real Madrid from 2002 to 2007.
Rivaldo
Came across Spain from Deportivo La Coruna for €23.5 million in 1997 scoring 86 goals in 157 appearances for the club before leaving on a free transfer for AC Milan in 2002. Initially things went well. He immediately won back-to-back La Liga titles, the Uefa Super Cup and the Copa de Rey under Louis Van Gaal. He also won both World Player of the Year and the Ballon D’Or in 1999. Van Gaal then left and the club weren’t as successful under Lorenc Ferrer and Carles Rexach. By the time Van Gaal returned in 2002, Rivaldo and the Dutchman had a bust-up and the player left before winning the World Cup with Brazil in 2002.
Ronaldinho
Scored 70 goals in 145 appearances for the club between 2003 and 2008 after joining from Paris Saint Germain for €30 million. Within that time he won two La Liga, two Supercopa de Espana and one Champions League title as well as winning back-to-back World Player of the Year awards and one Ballon D’Or. Lionel Messi attributed Ronaldinho with having helped turned things around at the club when he was brought in under Frank Rijkaard but his partying ways got the better of him and, by the time Pep Guardiola took over in 2008, he was deemed surplus to requirement and offloaded to AC Milan for €25 million.
Neymar
Joined for €86.2 million from Santos in 2013 and quickly established himself as a key part of the MSN strike partnership along with Messi and Suarez, scoring 68 goals in 123 appearances. Won eight trophies at the club including two La Liga and one Champions League title under Gerardo Martino and Luis Enrique, but left for Paris Saint Germain for a world record €222 million transfer in 2017. Perennially third to Messi or Ronaldo in the Ballon D’Or reckoning, Neymar may have felt the need to get out of Spain to finally get out from under the shadows of his greatest contemporaries.
