It is fair to say that Deco’s return to Barcelona as Sporting Director in 2023 raised eyebrows, as he replaced the experienced Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff. That pairing had handled the transfer dealings at Barcelona that led them to their first La Liga title in three years, while Deco came in as a novice to the job.
By the time Deco arrived and started working, Alemany had already secured deals for Inigo Martinez and Ilkay Gundogan, aided by Xavi Hernandez. Oriol Romeu was also signed at Xavi’s request, but the three deals that were chiefly attributed to Deco were the loan signings of Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo, also championed by President Joan Laporta, and the addition of Vitor Roque.
The 18-year-old Brazilian signed a seven-year contract with Barcelona to move for €30m plus €31m in variables, and was sold as their big signing of the year. Roque was brought in ahead of time in the knowledge that this season Robert Lewandowski would be turning 36. Undoubtedly there was joined up thinking, with Barcelona unlikely to be able to afford a top tier forward at the peak of their powers for some time, unless Deco had a win at SOL online casinos or something of the sort.
What happened next was much harder to interpret. Roque’s deal was originally meant to go through in the summer of 2024, but his move was brought forward to January to give the side fresh impetus. He would go on to make 16 appearances for Barcelona in the second half of the season, with just two starts.
He did manage two goals in the little over 300 minutes he was given, including a winner against Athletic Club, but more notable was the fact that Xavi started Marc Guiu over Roque, and did not trust him through the middle.
At this point, his agent Andre Cury demanded publicly that either he played or he was transferred permanently, rejecting the idea he would go on loan. Much of the blame was attributed to Xavi for his handling of Roque, but when Hansi Flick arrived, the teenager saw no more game time in preseason and was loaned out to Real Betis, with Los Verdiblancos having the chance to make the deal permanent.
This summer Deco did not manage to persuade Nico Williams to join the club, although he has gotten Dani Olmo through the door, albeit neither were deals of particular imagination. Regardless of what happens from here on though, Deco faces a tough job to rehabilitate his image. Right at the very time when Barcelona needed to show smarts in the market, his major project looks the opposite of that so far.
