Latest news with #Deco
New York Times
10 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Barcelona Transfer DealSheet: Early targets, potential sales and La Liga limits
Barcelona's plans for the transfer market tend to come with several caveats — as followers of the Dani Olmo registration drama last season will recall. Hansi Flick's side had a brilliant season, beating Real Madrid in the two domestic finals and the title race to complete a domestic treble, while also reaching the Champions League semi-finals (where they lost a thrilling tie narrowly to Inter after extra time). Even so, they are still certainly looking to strengthen this summer. Advertisement Right now, their financial situation is again uncertain: La Liga's salary limits for 2025-26 have not yet been published, and Barca were in breach of the body's regulations last term, which limited their spending power. That hasn't stopped key figures at the club making some early moves, however. Here, The Athletic provides the latest on Barcelona's transfer thinking, and on Wednesday, we will be publishing a more in-depth look at the club's attempts to get in line with La Liga spending rules. Sporting director Deco and manager Hansi Flick, with club president Joan Laporta then technically being the one who gives the final green light based on their decisions. Deco leads Barca's recruitment, and he has worked in perfect sync with Flick since the latter's appointment last summer. The German knows the club are (yet again) not in an easy position when it comes to this transfer window. Deco and Flick have both said they would like a new left-winger. They feel the team lacked depth at that position in the key stages of last season, and adding a new quality signing there would help Barcelona with another year of competing on three fronts. The second position Barca has prioritised is goalkeeper. Wojciech Szczesny was offered a two-year contract extension last month, having come out of retirement in the autumn after the club lost first-choice Marc-Andre ter Stegen to a long-term knee injury. If he accepts, those two will be Flick's two options in goal. But Ter Stegen is 33 and Szczesny is 35. The latter was a decent backup last season but is not a star player, and with the German having missed seven months of the most recent campaign, Barca are eyeing a long-term replacement. Deco and Flick mentioned Luis Diaz and Marcus Rashford by name in recent press conferences. Barca are monitoring both players, with Manchester United forward Rashford considered a more affordable option than Liverpool's Diaz, who is Deco's preferred option. But it is still too early in the window for Barca to know if they can progress with pursuing either of them. Advertisement Barcelona's finances will ultimately be the deciding factor in any business the club does. Today, it's still uncertain whether La Liga will allow them to register any new players. Barca had to fight in the courts to register last summer's signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, as La Liga would not register them so long as the club were in breach of its spending rules. Beyond Diaz and Rashford, Barca's top target is Joan Garcia. The goalkeeper for their city neighbours Espanyol, Garcia was arguably the best performer at his position in La Liga last season. The 24-year-old is seen as a market opportunity with a release clause of €25million (£21.1m; $28.6m), so Barca feel there is hardly a better option for a top goalkeeper in the market. The fact he has been with Barca's local rivals since the age of 15 could influence Garcia's thinking, and Premier League clubs are interested in him too, including Arsenal. Barcelona would be open to selling many players, but not a lot of them want to leave. They were ready to listen to bids for Ronald Araujo in January when they inserted a €60million release clause in his latest contract, but the 26-year-old defender did not have a great run of form in the second half of the season so may not attract many suitors. Perhaps more pertinently, the player now seems to have his heart on staying and fighting for a place in Flick's starting line-up. Defender Andreas Christensen is entering the last year of his contract but would prefer to stay as well. Then there's Ter Stegen. If Garcia were to arrive, Barca would be open to selling their German captain. However, the player confirmed over the weekend, while on international duty, that he is certain he'll be at Barcelona next season. Third goalkeeper Inaki Pena does look likely to leave on a permanent basis, having lost his place in Flick's starting line-up to Szczesny in January while Ter Stegen was out. The 26-year-old's contract has only a year left to run, and his camp and the club agree that a departure is the best scenario. Yes, especially those players on such big contracts they are difficult to move on permanently. Ansu Fati is a clear example here. After a season in which he made only 11 appearances, the 22-year-old attacker has accepted the idea of leaving on loan again (after spending the 2023-24 season in the Premier League with Brighton) for a fresh opportunity. Monaco of France's Ligue 1 are the best-placed club to sign him right now. Victor could follow the same path if Barca manage to get a new attacking reinforcement, as could right-back Hector Fort and midfielder Pablo Torre, again if the club end up signing players at their positions. Lamine Yamal's contract extension. Deco described it as 'the best possible signing of the summer' two weeks ago in an interview with local radio station RAC1. The deal commits Yamal to the club until 2031 — by which time he'll be the grand old age of 23 — and has made the teenager one of the top earners in the squad. GO DEEPER Lamine Yamal's new Barcelona contract - inside the deal that could be worth nearly €40m a year Raphinha also extended and improved his contract last month, after an outstanding season of his own, and in January, Barca extended the contracts of Pedri, Gavi, Pau Cubarsi, Araujo and Inigo Martinez. Frenkie de Jong and Eric Garcia should be the next players in line. This is perhaps the most pertinent question. As outlined above, the club will only be able to successfully register new players if they get the green light to do so from La Liga. So what comes next depends heavily on Barcelona sorting out their finances. Tomorrow, The Athletic will publish a more in-depth look at how things are shaping up in this regard — because, as usual with this club, the full picture is rather complicated. As things stand, it's unclear exactly what room they have for manoeuvre — although any player departures, whether on loan or permanently — are bound to help. (Top photos of Rashford, left, and Garcia: Getty Images)
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Barcelona chief Deco drops hint on when Man Utd can expect Marcus Rashford bid
Marcus Rashford's agent was recently spotted in Barcelona for transfer talks but the Manchester United star will have to be patient if he wants to get his dream move Barcelona sporting director Deco says that his club will focus on the futures of their own players before making moves for targets such as Marcus Rashford. Barca are in the process of tying down a number of key players, with Raphinha and Lamine Yamal recently putting pen to paper on new deals. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny also has an offer on the table while Barcelona are in negotiations with defenders Inigo Martinez and Eric Garcia to secure their long-term futures. But they still expect to make 'two, three or four signings', Deco has confirmed. One of those could be Rashford, whose agent and brother, Dwaine Maynard, was seen meeting with Deco in Catalunya last week. The England international has been put up for sale by Manchester United, who loaned him out to Aston Villa for the second half of the season. Villa negotiated the option to sign him permanently for £40million but they're now unlikely to trigger that clause. It leaves Rashford, who's set to lose his shirt number at United, searching for pastures new and Barcelona are understood to be his dream club. But the 27-year-old will have to be patient and hope that they pursue a move for him instead of Liverpool winger Luis Diaz, as Deco outlined Barca's priorities. "We have been focusing on renewing contracts, after that, we'll discuss players to come," the former midfielder told BBC Sport. "Of course, these two players, like you mentioned, they are good but have contracts in their clubs, so we won't speak because it's not fair. But when you decide to go to the market, for sure, we find some names. In my opinion, we don't need to bring many players. "When I speak with the agents of the players, everyone wants to come or stay. So this is important. The image of the club is still good. We are proud because Barcelona is still such a big club, and the way we are playing football makes players want to come." Should Barcelona sign Marcus Rashford? Have your say in the comments section. Deco also confirmed that Barca will 'not sell their best players', despite their precarious financial position. The newly-crowned La Liga champions dominated Spanish football in Hansi Flick's first season in charge and were minutes away from reaching the Champions League final. Flick described both Rashford and Diaz as a 'fantastic players' when asked about the attacking duo last month. "I don't want to talk about players who aren't part of my team, but they're both fantastic players and I like them," the German said. "We'll see what happens."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Deco on Barca's future, challenging Real and Yamal
Barcelona sporting director Deco denies the club have financial problems and says they do not need to sell players - despite La Liga's restrictive financial controls. Deco, 47, has overseen a revival of Barcelona since his appointment in 2023, culminating in a domestic treble while also reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League. Advertisement The Catalans have renewed the contracts of superstar teenager Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and manager Hansi Flick, while they were cleared by Spain's National Sports Council (CSD) to register midfielder Dani Olmo amid a dispute with La Liga. When asked whether the world should see Barcelona as a well-run club in 2025, Deco told BBC Sport: "Barcelona is my club, I love Barcelona. I saw what happened from the outside and always thought I could help put Barca at the same high level. "I knew it would be difficult when I joined with the financial rules - it is not a financial problem, but the financial fair play rules in Spain are more difficult than the Premier League and in other countries. "It is a problem for a lot of clubs, you just hear about Barca because we are a big club. You need to work with it, see how you can improve the team and the combination of La Masia [academy] players and experienced players has been important." Advertisement The former Portugal midfielder, who played for the Catalans - as well as Chelsea and Porto - stresses Barcelona are happy working with La Liga but have faith the rules will continue to improve. Even if they do not, Barcelona are excited to have "one of the biggest contracts in history" with Nike, and the newly renovated 100,000-seater Nou Camp will be the biggest stadium in Europe and improve revenues. He insists Barcelona will "not sell our best players", adding the team's recent success means they can "grow with many of the same players". But he says they are in looking for "two, three or four signings", without needing to enter the market "like crazy" thanks to the stability at the core of the team. When asked if it includes the option of signing Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, thought to be available for £40m, or Liverpool's Luis Diaz, he added: "We have been focusing on renewing contracts, after that, we'll discuss players to come. Advertisement "Of course, these two players, like you mentioned, they are good but have contracts in their clubs, so we won't speak because it's not fair. But when you decide to go to the market, for sure, we find some names. In my opinion, we don't need to bring many players." He added: "When I speak with the agents of the players, everyone wants to come or stay. So this is important. The image of the club is still good. We are proud because Barcelona is still such a big club, and the way we are playing football makes players want to come." Deco is aware of the constant threat of Real Madrid, who will look to improve under new head coach Xabi Alonso. They have also agreed deals for right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who will leave Liverpool, and Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen. Benfica left-back Alvaro Carreras is understood to be next on the club's shortlist. Advertisement "Next season is not going to be easy, because I know that first Real Madrid has a lot of top players," he said. "In my opinion they have a big team. They have a lot of fantastic players. Of course they want to improve. "It's very important to have a strong Madrid. It's very important to have strong players, top players, players that the people want to see. I think Madrid has these kinds of players, like us. "Now it's important to keep the top players in La Liga. So for us it's important that Madrid are strong, that Atletico is strong, and we need to be there." 'Yamal can make history like Messi' Yamal has scored 18 goals and provided 25 assists in 55 matches across all club competitions this season [Getty Images] Barcelona have already signed perhaps their most important deal of the summer, keeping 17-year-old Spanish sensation Yamal at the club on a new six-year deal until 2031. Advertisement Yamal made his debut at 15 and has already made 106 appearances for the club. He was part of Spain's European Championship-winning team, is the reigning Golden Boy and Kopa winner - awards given to the best young player in the world - and was heavily involved in Barcelona's four El Clasico wins against Madrid this season. All this success has led him to be compared to Barcelona legend Lionel Messi, widely regarded as among the world's greatest ever players. Deco continued: "Lamine is Lamine. Leo is Leo. Leo was the best player in the history of this club, for me, the best player in history. "Everyone becomes crazy when they see Lamine playing football, you would pay to go watch him in the stadium, he's special and he wanted to stay because he believes in the project. He deserves an improved salary. Advertisement "He's going to be one of the best players in the world. We need to respect him as a player, but not forget he is 17 years old." Deco added: "It's not easy to compare, but Lamine, in terms of quality, can make history like Leo. But of course, to make history, he needs to have a good team behind him." Barcelona managed Messi mania and would know how to give Yamal the degree of protection he needs to shine. "We try to not let him do everything, because, you know, sometimes the sponsors, and everyone wants his shirt or time," Deco continued. "Sometimes we can't control everything, but people see his magic, on and off the pitch. "They want to have a piece of him and we need to help him manage that."
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Deco on Barca's future, challenging Real and Yamal
Barcelona sporting director Deco denies the club have financial problems and says they do not need to sell players - despite La Liga's restrictive financial 47, has overseen a revival of Barcelona since his appointment in 2023, culminating in a domestic treble while also reaching the semi-finals of the Champions Catalans have renewed the contracts of superstar teenager Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and manager Hansi Flick, while they were cleared by Spain's National Sports Council (CSD) to register midfielder Dani Olmo amid a dispute with La Liga. When asked whether the world should see Barcelona as a well-run club in 2025, Deco told BBC Sport: "Barcelona is my club, I love Barcelona. I saw what happened from the outside and always thought I could help put Barca at the same high level. "I knew it would be difficult when I joined with the financial rules - it is not a financial problem, but the financial fair play rules in Spain are more difficult than the Premier League and in other countries. "It is a problem for a lot of clubs, you just hear about Barca because we are a big club. You need to work with it, see how you can improve the team and the combination of La Masia [academy] players and experienced players has been important."The former Portugal midfielder, who played for the Catalans - as well as Chelsea and Porto - stresses Barcelona are happy working with La Liga but have faith the rules will continue to improve. Even if they do not, Barcelona are excited to have "one of the biggest contracts in history" with Nike, and the newly renovated 100,000-seater Nou Camp will be the biggest stadium in Europe and improve insists Barcelona will "not sell our best players", adding the team's recent success means they can "grow with many of the same players". But he says they are in looking for "two, three or four signings", without needing to enter the market "like crazy" thanks to the stability at the core of the asked if it includes the option of signing Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, thought to be available for £40m, or Liverpool's Luis Diaz, he added: "We have been focusing on renewing contracts, after that, we'll discuss players to come. "Of course, these two players, like you mentioned, they are good but have contracts in their clubs, so we won't speak because it's not fair. But when you decide to go to the market, for sure, we find some names. In my opinion, we don't need to bring many players."He added: "When I speak with the agents of the players, everyone wants to come or stay. So this is important. The image of the club is still good. We are proud because Barcelona is still such a big club, and the way we are playing football makes players want to come."Deco is aware of the constant threat of Real Madrid, who will look to improve under new head coach Xabi have also agreed deals for right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who will leave Liverpool, and Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen. Benfica left-back Alvaro Carreras is understood to be next on the club's shortlist."Next season is not going to be easy, because I know that first Real Madrid has a lot of top players," he said. "In my opinion they have a big team. They have a lot of fantastic players. Of course they want to improve."It's very important to have a strong Madrid. It's very important to have strong players, top players, players that the people want to see. I think Madrid has these kinds of players, like us."Now it's important to keep the top players in La Liga. So for us it's important that Madrid are strong, that Atletico is strong, and we need to be there." 'Yamal can make history like Messi' Barcelona have already signed perhaps their most important deal of the summer, keeping 17-year-old Spanish sensation Yamal at the club on a new six-year deal until made his debut at 15 and has already made 106 appearances for the club. He was part of Spain's European Championship-winning team, is the reigning Golden Boy and Kopa winner - awards given to the best young player in the world - and was heavily involved in Barcelona's four El Clasico wins against Madrid this season. All this success has led him to be compared to Barcelona legend Lionel Messi, widely regarded as among the world's greatest ever players. Deco continued: "Lamine is Lamine. Leo is Leo. Leo was the best player in the history of this club, for me, the best player in history. "Everyone becomes crazy when they see Lamine playing football, you would pay to go watch him in the stadium, he's special and he wanted to stay because he believes in the project. He deserves an improved salary. "He's going to be one of the best players in the world. We need to respect him as a player, but not forget he is 17 years old."Deco added: "It's not easy to compare, but Lamine, in terms of quality, can make history like Leo. But of course, to make history, he needs to have a good team behind him."Barcelona managed Messi mania and would know how to give Yamal the degree of protection he needs to shine."We try to not let him do everything, because, you know, sometimes the sponsors, and everyone wants his shirt or time," Deco continued. "Sometimes we can't control everything, but people see his magic, on and off the pitch. "They want to have a piece of him and we need to help him manage that."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Barcelona director Deco hails Porto youngster
Barcelona sporting director Deco has this weekend opened up on his appreciation for the talents of up-and-coming Porto talent Rodrigo Mora. Mora, for those not familiar with his name, is an 18-year-old attacking midfielder, who is currently plying his trade in his home country, with the aforementioned Porto. Advertisement The starlet is fresh off something of a breakout campaign in 2024/25, which saw him afforded 37 appearances across all competitions. And along the way, Mora turned heads courtesy of a string of standout performances, chipping in with 11 goals and four assists, too. During an appearance in Portugal this weekend, the name of the teenage prodigy was in turn put to the aforementioned Deco. And the Barcelona director, in quotes relaid by Diario Sport, made use of the opportunity to lavish praise on Mora: 'Rodrigo Mora is a great player. I'm not going to talk about the transfer market, because it's a moment that isn't even an event. It's fantastic to see a boy as young as him take on this leadership at FC Porto. I'm happy, because it's my club and he's a player with exceptional talent. We have the idea of having the players we have at Barcelona.' Conor Laird – GSFN
