Barcelona fans are once again sitting nervously through the turbulence, after another week on the Mediterranean coast brought yet more change at the club.
Deco has been appointed as Sporting Director, replacing the outgoing Jordi Cruyff, but the surprise news was the departure of Director of Football Mateu Alemany. A major part of President Joan Laporta’s project since his election campaign, Alemany has been credited with managing a minefield in terms of Barcelona’s finances, while keeping them active in the transfer market.
According to Bar Canaletes, internal elements within the club had been pushing for his exit for some time. Advisor Enric Masip and Vice-President Rafael Yuste were supposedly part of the group which were keen on seeing Deco take control and Alemany depart, as per Diario AS too.
Deco has had his doubts about the role, but has been convinced to take over – nevertheless, one of his requests in order to do so was to have total control over the sporting areas if he were to do so.
Ja puc veure Colombo. A qui li piqui que es rasqui. El Barça no és el Cortijo de Laporta ni hauria de ser el Corral de la Pacheca. És un club de socis encara que no ho sembli. Visca el Barça. https://t.co/B5fZu2uz4z
— Dongcast (@JoanFontes) August 17, 2023
Alemany was aware of the arrival of Deco back in April, and in May accepted an offer from Aston Villa to become their Sporting Director. However after Unai Emery made it clear he was not on the same page as Alemany in terms of signings, Alemany decided to U-turn and remain at the club.
Yet with Deco arriving, Alemany was to be given a different role without any say in the sporting decisions – something that the former Valencia man would not have been happy with. Laporta decided to agree an exit with Alemany before this came to a head.
It is worth noting that Deco is intimate friends with Jorge Mendes and Alejandro Echevarria, who often contributes to negotiations for Barcelona. Equally Head of Scouting Paulo Araujo has close connections with the former Portugual international.
Once again, it appears that relationships are holding significant weight internally at Barcelona – rather than a pure assessment of capability. While Deco may turn out to be a fantastic Sporting Director, Alemany was to be sidelined, and ultimately will leave, to be replaced by a former agent with no experience in the role, compared to his own impressive track record.
