Where are they now? The 3 players Barcelona sold alongside ...

The summer of 2017 saw the footballing world shaken to its core as Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in a world record £200million transfer.

Neymar’s move opened a forbidden door to insanely inflated fees and players creating expectations they can ultimately never meet. It was also the beginning of the end for La Blaugrana, whose spending of that money nearly brought their existence to an end some years later.

Neymar wasn’t the only player to depart Barcelona that summer, though, with a further three also leaving the club. We’ve checked in on where they are now.

Rejoining Barcelona from Espanyol in his youth and breaking through to the first team after a successful spell at Barcelona B, Tello scored on his Champions League debut in a 7-1 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen in 2012.

However, by the time it came to the summer of 2017, Tello had failed to break in, with Barcelona boasting their iconic Messi-Suarez-Neymar front three and giving him virtually no chance. Following loans to Porto and Fiorentina, he left to sign for Real Betis in a €4million deal.

Now 32, the forward is a free agent after one singular season in Saudi Arabia with Al Fateh, having spent five years with Betis and half a year with Los Angeles FC.

After an impressive stint at Valencia where he was captain by the time he’d left, Mathieu joined Barcelona for €20million in 2014 and won the treble in his first season with the club, playing 41 times in all competitions.

His importance to the side waned in the following two years, however, and he left for Sporting CP in the summer of 2017 on a free transfer. Mathieu would see out the rest of his career in Portugal, making the Primeira Liga Team of the Year in 2018-19 and winning the Portuguese Cup.

The Frenchman was forced into retirement in 2020 at the age of 36 after suffering a knee injury he was unable to shake off.

In the time since, he’s opened up on his time at Camp Nou and shared details on a difficult relationship with Luis Enrique, telling beIN Sports in 2024: “He’s a coach who doesn’t talk to you much and doesn’t give you too much confidence.”

READ NEXT: Where are they now? Barcelona’s XI from their unforgettable 6-1 remontada against PSG in 2017

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Born in Barcelona, Masip rose through all the ranks with his hometown club before eventually making his first-team debut in December 2014, but spent the vast majority of his time around the club as a third-choice goalkeeper.

That changed when he joined Valladolid in 2017, playing every minute of his debut season with the club apart from a few in the play-off final which they won to earn promotion to La Liga.

Now 35, Masip is a free agent having left the club this summer, but left having made over 200 appearances. There’s a veteran on the market for a Spanish side in need.