Which are the top 10 biggest swap deals in football?

Swap deals in the transfer market are not a common practice among clubs. But it is a useful otion, if the players are willing, as it allows a club to offload an out of favour player in exchange of another player whom they need without paying any money or a much lesser transfer fee.

From the Samuel Eto'o - Zlatan Ibrahimovic swap deal between FC Barcelona and Inter Milan in 2009 to Real Madrid signing Roberto Carlos for just £1 million and Ivan Zamorano from Inter Milan, there are several instances when clubs have got some favourable deals.

Here, let us take a look at the top 10 iconic swap deals that have grabbed the headlines.

One of the most talked-about swap transfer deals in history is between Inter Milan and FC Barcelona which saw the Spanish club sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a record deal.

The deal was close to €70 million as Barca paid around €45 million and sent Samuel Eto'o - valued at around €25m - to San Siro.

The dream signing turned out to be a nightmare as the Swedish forward had a fall-out with then Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola due to lack of game time. Adding to their woes, Barcelona lost to Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinal that season over two legs and crashed out of the tournament. Inter Milan under Jose Mourinho's tutelage went on to win the Champions.

Ibrahimovic was sent on loan to AC Milan after just one season at Camp Nou and then was permanently sold to the Italian club in 2011. Eto'o, on the other hand, stayed at Inter Milan for just two seasons but he won six titles including a treble in his first year.

City rivals Arsenal and Chelsea exchanged Ashley Cole and William Gallas in a swap deal in 2006. Chelsea paid £5 million along with Gallas to acquire the services of Ashley Cole.

It was a win-win deal for Cole and Chelsea as the English left-back stayed with the Blues for the next eight seasons winning multiple trophies including the Premier League and the Champions League. Gallas, on the other hand, did not win anything in his four-year-spell with Arsenal.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alexis Sanchez were involved in a swap deal in January 2018 which saw Sanchez leaving Arsenal to join Manchester United while the Armenian winger moved the other way.

Neither of the players enjoyed success at their new clubs as they failed to win any trophies. Both the players played just one and a half seasons at their respective clubs before moving out on loan in 2019. While Sanchez went to Inter Milan, Mkhitaryan joined AS Roma.

In January 2011, Chelsea signed Brazilian central defender David Luiz in a swap deal with Benfica which saw the Blues paying £20 million and sending defensive Nemanja Matic to the Portuguese club.

Luiz had two stints with Chelsea, first one from 2011 to 2014 when he was sold to PSG and then returned to the club in 2016 and played for three more seasons. Matic played at Benfica for three and then re-joined Chelsea in January 2014.

In 2018, Juventus and AC Milan were involved in a swap deal where Gonzalo Higuain and Mattia Caldara moved to the Rossoneri and Leonardo Bonucci moving the other way. While Caldara was a direct swap, Higuain went on a loan deal of £16 million.

Bonucci moved to San Siro in 2017 but an unsuccessful campaign with Milan convinced him to return to Turin after just one season.

Arch-rivals Inter Milan and AC Milan were involved in a swap deal in the summer of 2002 which saw Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf moving to the Rossoneri while Italian full-back Francesco Coco going the other way.

Seedorf went on to play for 10 seasons at Milan and became a club legend. He won multiple trophies including two Serie A titles and two Champions Leagues. Coco, on the other hand, stayed for five seasons at Inter Milan and in between, he was sent on loan twice to Livorno and Torino. Coco won only the Copa Italia in three seasons with Inter.

After winning the Champions League with FC Porto in 2004, Deco was a hot property in the transfer market. Chelsea and Bayern Munich were also in the race to sign the Portuguese midfielder along with Barcelona but the Spanish giants ultimately managed to secure his signing a swap deal which included £13 million and winger Ricardo Quaresma.

Deco donned the Barcelona shirt for four seasons winning the La Liga twice and the Champions League once. Quaresma played for Porto for four seasons winning seven trophies including the Primeira Liga thrice.

After spending eight seasons at his boyhood club Liverpool, Michael Owen moved to Real Madrid in 2004 for a transfer fee of £8 million and Spanish midfielder Antonio Nunez moved to Liverpool in an exchange deal.

The move proved to be unsuccessful for Owen as the English striker struggled for game time at Real Madrid amid injury woes. The Spanish giants finished second in La Liga behind rivals Barcelona in the 2004/05 season. He was then sold to Newcastle United in 2005.

Antonio Nunez too got very little game time at Liverpool but he won the Champions League his first season with the English giants. Nunez went to Celta Vigo in 2005.

Juventus traded Uruguayan goalkeeper Fabian Carini to sign central defender Fabio Cannavaro from Inter Milan in 2004.

Cannavaro, who was the captain of the Italian national team at that time, played two seasons at Juventus but did not win a single trophy at the club. Juventus had finished at the top of Serie A table in 2005/06 but due to their involvement in match-fixing scandal, Juventus were stripped of the title and Inter Milan were named the champions.

One of the first signing of Real Madrid's Galactico era, Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos came to the Spanish club from Inter Milan in 1996 in exchange for Chilean striker Ivan Zamorano and £1 million.

Carlos went on to play for 10 seasons at Real Madrid winning multiple trophies including Four La Ligas and three Champions League titles. Zamorano, on the other hand, played for five seasons at Inter and won only the UEFA Cup (now Europa League).