In 1984, he joined Barcelona for £1,150,000, where in his first season he helped them win the La Liga title for the first time in 11 years. He then helped "Barça" reach the European Cup final in 1986, only to lose on penalty kicks to Steaua Bucharest. He was a popular figure at the Camp Nou until restrictions on fielding foreign players led to him being excluded from the squad in favour of Gary Lineker and Mark Hughes. He was loaned out to Blackburn Rovers for a spell before to returning to Scotland in 1988 to sign for Hibernian.