Barcelona sporting director Deco has warned fans not to expect much from the club during the summer transfer window.
The club activated several so-called ‘levers’ over the past 18 months to raise money to bolster Xavi’s squad, with the latest signing being the arrival of 18-year-old striker Vitor Roque for an intial €30m. The final fee for Roque is expected to reach at least €55m.
With Barcelona’s finances still in turmoil, Deco has admitted that there will be no big signings arriving at Camp Nou in 2024 and expressed hope of academy graduates plugging gaps.
“We will not make big signings and the new coach must understand this,” he told Esports3. “We need a coach who knows what Barca is and understands our current reality. In La Masia, you always have to trust.”
A new midfielder remains a top priority for Barcelona, who bid farewell to Sergio Busquets last summer, but Deco admitted finding finding the right signing is not going to be easy in their situation.
“It’s almost impossible to replace Busquets. Rodri is the closest but Man City would never sell him to any club,” he said. [Joshua] Kimmich is another top player, but it’s also not easy to sign him. Look at how much Chelsea paid for [Moises] Caicedo, it’s not easy at all.”
Deco did, however, namedrop Girona midfielder Aleix Garcia as a potential target for the summer.
“Xavi publicly said he likes him,” Deco said of Garcia. “The loss of Gavi has been difficult. Aleix Garcia is a good player who could be useful. We’ll see.”
In terms of outgoings, Deco also ruled out parting ways with any of the club’s big names, even if the chance to swap them for Kylian Mbappe came around.
“It would be a mistake to sell Frenkie [de Jong] and [Ronald] Araujo for Mbappe,” he laughed. “It would make the team worse. I’d like to improve the squad, not to sell players.”
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