Joan Laporta Confirms Ex Midfielder Deco As Barcelona’s New Sporting Director

Barcelona President Joan Laporta has finally confirmed when Deco’s appointment will be made official. The Portuguese-Brazilian appears to have been working for the club for at least a month, at times openly recognised by Laporta.

Deco was previously working as both a scout for Barcelona and an agent for several players, including winger Raphinha. However it appears he will leave the business to head up Barcelona’s recruitment department with Mateu Alemany.

“We will announce Deco’s arrival in mid-July. He will perform the role of Txiki Begiristain in my first stage,” Laporta told La Vanguarda (via MD).

Laporta also spoke about the club’s relationships with agents, in particular being asked about Jorge Mendes and Pini Zahavi, who have been heavily involved in the club’s dealings of late.

“There is a relationship that goes back many years and they helped us. Most of the representatives want to be on good terms with Barca, with a relationship of respect, I’m also thinking of Ivan de la Pena. With respect to football, you don’t really get more belligerent agents. Sometimes it has been the case in other sports.”

Recently star basketball player Nikola Mirotic left the club, after negotiations to renew his deal broke down. Laporta sent out a clear warning to any agents hoping to leverage their clients.

“I don’t want to get into that. The approach of the negotiations is not what it should be and I already said it: whoever tries to put us against the wall is making a mistake.”

The amount of power that agents wield within football has steadily grown over the past decade, with much of the transfer business often involving their wishes as much as those of the client or the club. At the very least, Deco will understand all sides of the negotiations.