Barcelona has hit back at Spanish media reports that sporting director Deco is considering leaving the club after a difficult summer transfer window.
Barca signed a contract Dani Olmo And Paul Victor this summer but failed in their attempts to sign a left winger, a holding midfielder and a defender as they continue to struggle financially.
Spanish sports newspaper Diario Sport reported on Sunday that those issues had led Deco, who took up the position last year, to consider leaving the club.
“We completely deny the news that appeared on September 1 in Diario Sport, which casts doubt on the continuity of our sporting director,” Barça said in a statement.
“In response to the article titled ‘Deco, disappointed, thinking about the future’, the club would like to state that it could not be happier with the work Deco is doing and refute this article which appeared at the end of the transfer window.”
Deco also referred to the club’s statement when contacted by ESPN for comment.
The previous one Portugal Last year, the international quit his agent job to become Barça’s sporting director, initially working alongside Mateu Alemany and then on his own when Alemany left the club last September.
However, his efforts were hampered by the club’s difficult financial situation.
While Barça remain above their annual spending limit — all clubs in Spain are subject to a cap roughly determined by the difference between team revenue minus non-sporting expenses and debt repayments — they can only spend a percentage of the money they save in the form of wages, increased transfer fees or raised through new revenue streams.
Ahead of the summer, LaLiga revealed Barça’s transfer cap was just over €200 million ($221 million), with sources telling ESPN of Blaugrana The squad cost around 400 million euros.
Despite this, they still managed to sign Olmo from Leipzig Football Team for €55 million, although financial constraints meant he missed the first two matches of the season due to a lengthy registration process.
Barca finally signed up Olmo last week took advantage of a rule that allows clubs to exceed their limit in the event a player is removed from the long-term injury list — in this case Andreas Christensen.
Young striker Pau Victor also comes from Girona this summer for €2.5 million, but sources tell ESPN that Barça want to bring in more players.
Surname considered a move because Federico Chiesathe last person to move in LiverpoolAnd missed out on Liverpool’s Stefan Bajcetic after making a late bid to sign the Spanish midfielder when Marc Bernal he tore his anterior cruciate ligament
Joao Cancelo used to be other goals who went elsewhere, with the signing of full-back Saudi Arabian Professional Football League club Al Hilalwhile Bayer Leverkusen center back Jonathan Tah has also been linked.
Barça president Joan Laporta is expected to speak at a press conference on Tuesday to discuss the club’s transfer activity.
