It’s one of football’s most unlikely partnerships.
We’re all familiar with the concept of a feeder club, right?
It’s a long-held football tradition that sees the best talent from one club cruelly poached to strengthen another side.
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Normally, it’s domestic clubs who strike up trading relationships between one another, with one particular Premier League club taking a fancy to another’s players.
Liverpool/Southampton *cough cough.*
An unlikely relationship between two sides has emerged out of this summer’s transfer window, blossoming in particular on deadline day.
In a strange turn of events, Barcelona have become a feeder club, with the glutinous benefactor none other than Everton.
Crazy, right?
The Merseyside club raided the La Liga giants not once but twice on deadline day, snapping up Yerry Mina on a permanent transfer and Andre Gomes on a season-long loan.
Funnily enough, this is not the first time that the Toffees have got stuck into some Barcelona talent in recent years.
Everton have a track record of raiding the Catalan club numerous times in the past, with Frenchman Lucas Digne also arriving from Barcelona this summer.
Some of the other reputable names to have swapped sunny Spain for Merseyside in recent seasons include Gerard Deulofeu and Sandro Ramirez.
The pair both arrived from Lionel Messi’s club and endured contrasting fates in the Premier League.
Deulofeu was a relative success during his initial loan spell at Everton before the transfer was made permanent.
Barcelona then took advantage of a buy-back clause in the Spaniard’s contract and brought him back to the Nou Camp.
Ramirez however will not look back on his time at Everton with much fondness.
The striker joined the long list of flops who were signed with the hefty Romelu Lukaku funds last season.
Ramirez failed to score before being shipped out on loan to Sevilla in January, and he could still move on from the club permanently this summer.
The jury is still out on Digne, Mina and Gomes, with Barcelona fans seemingly not too bothered to see the trio leave the club after failing to impress at the Nou Camp.
Who knows, maybe ditching Messi and co in order to play with Phil Jagielka could hold the key to unlocking their potential?
Without a doubt Barcelona are Everton’s feeder club, it just happens to be the scraps that Everton are feeding on…
If you fancy taking a gamble on Everton’s new arrivals, they are now available on Dream Team – the UK’s biggest Fantasy football game.
Digne is priced up at £2.5m, Mina will set you back £3m and Gomes is on offer at £2m.