He began to be seen at the beginning of May in Barcelona. His arrival was an open secret. But it wasn’t until August 16 when FC Barcelona made official the arrival of ex-soccer player Deco to be the new visible head in the sports field as head of Barcelona transfers for the next three seasons.
This implies changes in the football structure starting with Mateu Alemany who will, now, leave the football management when the transfer market ends. That is, on September 2. “It has been a personal decision,” say club sources.
Alemany has already considered leaving in May. In fact, the club communicated just after the win against Osasuna that it practically sealed the championship for the blaugrana, that the football director had accepted a new professional challenge and that he would leave on June 30. He had an offer from Aston Villa.
Fifteen days later, Mateu Alemany rethought it. A visit to Birmingham and an analysis of Aston Villa’s sports project with less economic fair play than he expected raised doubts. After several days of reflection, he told the English team that he rejected his offer and Laporta welcomed him back on the Barcelona ship. He had a contract until June 30, 2024. He will not finish it. Although he has no offers, the arrival of Deco, who wants to have maximum control in the sports structure, has led to his decision to leave.
Deco, who was a Barcelona player for four seasons between 2004 and 2008, has been working in sports management for months, participating in various meetings with Xavi Hernández – the first in May – and in other negotiations. But before the agreement was made official, the 45-year-old Portuguese had to part with his soccer player representation agency in Brazil. Among the players that he has in his portfolio was the blaugrana Raphinha. Now the ex-player remains as the maximum responsible for completing the duties that Barcelona has pending.
The club’s pending folders are the departures of Lenglet and Dest and also try to close the arrival of Joao Cancelo for the right side. Xavi has also requested the signing of a midfielder and another winger after the departure of Ousmane Dembélé.
