With Mateu Alemany's departure almost two years ago, Joan Laporta chose to give the position of executive director to the then representative of the Barcelona player, Raphinha. Deco was chosen to replace Mateu's services, who until then was doing a great job at Can Barça. In the 2023-2024 season, the Portuguese began his work at Barça as the sporting director alongside Cruyff, the club's director, who would work with Deco for a short time due to personal reasons.
A Difficult First Season
A Barça with a skyrocketing wage bill and little economic benefit after the levers had to undertake one of the most difficult tasks for the blaugranas to compete. The club could only spend a third of what it sold, so as a result, we only had one transfer involving money, and it was Oriol Romeu's. A transfer that cost €3.4M from Girona and was made with the idea of replacing the significant loss of Sergio Busquets in the blaugranas' defensive pivot.
With Deco alone and under all the commands of the blaugrana sporting director position, two very commendable loans were made at the last minute of the summer transfer market. João Félix and João Cancelo arrived at Barça on loan in a last-minute operation, but with much success afterward. Two signings that, along with those previously made by Mateu Alemany, which were Gündoğan and ÍñigoMartínez, allowed Barça to compete for everything again.
But soccer is what it is, and after a bad season and with the controversy of Vitor Roque's signing in the winter market, the first criticisms fell on Deco. The team adapted to the new reinforcements of the season, and this, along with the poor dynamics of the group with Xavi at the helm, turned the sporting director's work into a failure.
Green Shoots Are Already Emerging
The 24-25 season arrives, and therefore, Barça could enter the transfer market without any problem, having spent practically no money last year. But the rules would change for the blaugranas. Tebas continued to put obstacles in the way, making it very difficult to add players to the Culer squad.
Even so, they were able to sign Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor for €60M, thus closing both the summer and winter markets. Two additions that, in hindsight, would be seen as key signings, as both are providing crucial points and goals for Barça's future in competitions.
The good additions and the renewal of all the future players of the blaugrana club mean that right now Deco is starting to be one of the leading voices of the blaugrana project. With a lot of work ahead, of course, but for now showing inflexibility in the face of requests from players like Frenkie de Jong or Araújo, showing that the club is in charge. For now, one of the hot potatoes, which was Araújo's renewal, is successfully solved; we'll see if the same happens with Frenkie...