There was a lot of excitement among Barcelona fans and club officials when it was confirmed that the son of former cult hero Ronaldinho would be signing for the club.
The 17-year-old had left playing from Cruzeiro in his homeland, but he will now join Barca, and is expected to be in the Juvenil B level in his early days as a Blaugrana player.
On Thursday, Mendes made his debut for the club, albeit in a behind closed doors friendly, as per Sport. The match was played at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper against the youth side of Barcelona’s Europa League opponents, Manchester United.
Barcelona’s side featured a mixture of players from the Juvenil A and B sides, with the former competing in the UEFA Youth League this season. Their next match is against AZ Alkmaar on the 1st of March.
📌 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓
💪 𝐉𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐥 𝐀 vs AZ Alkmaar
🏆 @UEFAYouthLeague
⚽️ Vuitens de final
📅 01/03
⌚️ 16 hores
🏟️ Estadi Johan Cruyff#FCBMasia 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/F97P8jUjBn— FC Barcelona – Masia (@FCBmasia) February 15, 2023
Barcelona will hope that Mendes can have a similar impact to his father at the club, although he is not expected to be at first team level for a couple of years at least.
