FC Barcelona Sporting Director Confident Of First Big Summer Transfer

FC Barcelona’s incoming sporting director Deco is confident of being able to pull off what will be one of the club’s biggest signings of the summer, according to SPORT and Gerard Romero.

The former Barca midfielder, who won the Champions League alongside Ronaldinho in 2006, has acted as the agent to players such as Raphinha in retirement while also working on recruitment in his country of birth Brazil for the Catalans.

In the coming weeks, however, he is expected to replace outgoing sporting director Jordi Cruyff as reported by multiple outlets including The Athletic.

Deco should be expected to give up his work as a representative to avoid a potential conflict of interest. And while Mateu Alemany will stay on as a director of football and be behind a lot of signings, the ex-Portugual international will bear responsibility for some of his own – especially if the players hail from over the Atlantic in South America’s largest country.

Vitor Roque has been on Barca’s radar since the U20 South American Championships at the turn of 2023 where he finished joint top-scorer and helped Brazil beat Uruguay in the final to lift their 12th title in the competition.

While Cruyff wanted to complete the transfer of the forward and potential heir to Robert Lewandowski before leaving his post on June 30 according to SPORT, Deco will take over the operation and is confident of pulling it off.

As their man in Brazil, Deco had already been commissioned by Barca to get the ball rolling on an operation that could cost up to €45 million ($48.4 million).

According to Gerard Romero, however, Deco believes he can secure the purchase for €30 million ($32.3 million) in what would be a major coup for the cash-strapped Blaugrana heading into their preparations for next season.

Though Barca’s precarious economic reality – which finds them having to shave €200 million ($216 million) from the wage bill to balance Financial Fair Play – works against them, Deco has put in the hard yards building a strong relationship with Vitor Roque’s camp which works in his and the club’s favor.

Signing the youngster might just be Deco’s first big move, in one of the biggest behind-the-scenes roles in European football.