From Andersson to Umtiti, Barça have spent 221 million euros on centre-backs since 2001

Samuel Umtiti will become the first signing of FC Barcelona for the 2016/17 season. He is a central defender and will arrive from Olympique Lyon, he is also a French international, 22-years-old, a great prospect for the future and for whom the Catalan club will pay 30 million euros, with incentives included.

Nothing new for Barça, who since 2001 have spent 191.75 million euros to buy 14 central defenders. With the arrival of Samuel Umtiti, this figure will rise to 221.75 million euros.

The great Barça of the sextuple and which has since prolonged its hegemony in the footballing elite was (and is) full of stars. One of them, without doubt, was the ex-captain Carles Puyol.

A genuine product of the Barça youth system, he underwent a long process of conversion since his beginnings as a striker, going through the midfield, full-back and then finally confirming himself as a top central defender. Barcelona was able to benefit from the maximum potential of a priceless Puyol, whose worth to that team has been clearly shown as time passes by.

If there has been one position for which Barça have had to search painstakingly through the transfer market, that position has been centre-back.

It is true that the bringing back of Gerard Pique from English football, and the conversion of Javier Mascherano from midfield, were able to shore up the heart of the team's defence, along with a Puyol that had come into the first team as a right-back. 

But these excellent and imaginative solutions can not hide the fact that neither the defenders that Barça have signed, nor the youth players that were given a chance in the first team, have fulfilled the expectations of their respective managers.

Throughout these last 15 years, the youth system have offered central defenders that wanted to emulate the likes of Puyol and Pique. The last was Marc Bartra, who left the club this summer to sign for Borussia Dortmund. 

Before him, we saw the likes of Oleguer Presas (who was promoted to the first team in season 2002/03), Rodri (2004/05), Andreu Fontas (2010/11) and Marc Muniesa (2012/13), without mentioning others who spent less time with the first team.

However the list of signings made, and their prices, show the difficulties that Barça have faced to strengthen this position. Some, like Rafa Marquez or Eric Abidal, were well worth the money. But others like Philippe Christanval or Dmitro Chygrynskiy ended up being absolute failures at the club and have the dubious honour of forming part of the list of worst Barça signings in the 21st century.

Now, while Barça continue to look for a second centre-back and maintain open fronts in this regard, such as the interest in Marquinhos of PSG, Samuel Umtiti becomes the first gamble of the new season, with the hope that Barcelona have come up with a viable, lasting solution to their centre-back problems.

THE 15 CENTRAL DEFENDERS SIGNED BY BARÇA FOR 221.75 MILLION EUROS (2001-2016)

• 2001/02: Patrik Andersson (Bayern, 8 millon) y Philippe Christanval (Mónaco, 17 millones)
• 2003/04: Rafa Márquez (Mónaco, 5.25 millon)
• 2004/05: Edmílson (Ol. Lyon 8 millon)
• 2006/07: Lilian Thuram (Juventus, 5 millon)
• 2007/08: Eric Abidal (Ol Lyon, 15 millon) y Gabriel Milito (R. Zaragoza, 20 millon)
• 2008/09: Martín Cáceres (Villarreal, 16.5 millon), Henrique (Desportivo Brasil, 8 millon) y Gerard Piqué (Manchester United, 5 millon)
• 2009/10: Dmytro Chygrynskiy (Shakhtar Donetsk, 25 millon) y Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, 20 millon)
• 2014/15: Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia, 20 millon) y Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal, 19 millon)
• 2016/17: Umtiti (Ol. Lyon, 30 millon)