Ramon Planes has asked to leave Barcelona according to a report in Diario Sport. The Catalan club’s current technical secretary is said to believe he’s completed his cycle at the club, and despite recently renewing for two more seasons under Joan Laporta wants to go out and take on new challenges.
Planes was key in the signings of Pedri and Ronald Araujo, as well as important in helping Gavi and Ilaix Moriba break into the first team. Mateu Alemany, currently the director of football, is going to need to bring in a new technical secretary to work with him.
Planes communicated his decision to the club in these past hours, understanding that the appointment of Xavi as the new coach means Barcelona are going to be making important decisions in the coming weeks. He didn’t want to hang around. Barcelona are said to be disappointed – they don’t like the ida of losing him so close to the January transfer market.
Planes was appointed by Josep Maria Bartomeu after Robert Fernandez left the club. Initially working beside Eric Abidal, he stayed on after Abidal left the club and was key to the signing of Ronald Koeman. Having already developed extensive experience through spells with Alaves, Espanyol, Elche, Rayo Vallecano and Getafe, Laporta was impressed by his work and kept him on.