Deco on failed Álvarez move, recalls Porto: “I was blocked from Barça” | OneFootball

In an interview with Catalan radio station RAC1, Deco was asked about Julián Álvarez’s transfer to Barcelona, which ultimately did not go through. The sporting director insisted that the blaugrana club never asked the Argentine forward to publicly express a desire to leave Atlético Madrid:

“I don’t want to say much more about that, we did things properly. We sent an offer and there was no response. Barça did not tell him to publicly express a desire to leave Atlético.”

The Portuguese executive also recalled a situation he experienced while playing for FC Porto, when Pinto da Costa did not authorize his move to Barcelona:

“In my case, the FC Porto president [Pinto da Costa] did not let me go to Barça. He told me to stay for one year and that afterwards he would let me leave. I stayed, and my obsession was to play well. Fortunately, in my case, I was able to go where I wanted.”

Deco also addressed the process that led to Rodri Hernández’s transfer:

“The moment we heard he might leave, the first thing we did was call the sporting director to confirm the information. He told me they had offered him a renewal, but that if he wanted to go, it would be difficult not to let him leave because of his history with the club. The coach said for us to move forward, and we started working,” Deco revealed.

The Barcelona sporting director added that Bernardo Silva wanted to represent the club, although he ultimately ended up joining Real Madrid.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.