Deco reveals why Barcelona decided against signing Bernardo Silva | OneFootball

Barcelona had a successful 2026 summer transfer window, and much of it was down to sporting director Deco. The Portuguese got almost all of the club’s desired business done, despite being handicapped by financial constraints.

In the end, Barcelona signed Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi, Rodri, Joao Cancelo, Dominik Livakovic and Gabriel Jesus. They were linked with many more players, but as Deco made clear when speaking on RAC1 (via MD), the club’s name was regularly used in relations to stars that they actually had no interest in.

“We have a fairly closed working group. I know it’s normal, and I joke that if it were up to the press, we would sign 50 players. It’s normal. There are people who use us. Barça’s name is very strong. If a player is of interest to Barça, it seems that everyone wants him.

“In our group, there’s Bojan, the coach and me. Then, the president, who has to be informed of everything, and Alejandro and the sports commission but it is not worth explaining everything to everyone before doing so. We had a clear idea of what we wanted. The important thing is that everyone at the club respects that leaks are bad for a signing and do not help. It is not my merit. The market is tough and there is a job for everyone, including the press, but we have to work with a clear strategy.”

One player that Barcelona were interested in, but ultimately did not sign, was Bernardo Silva. The veteran midfielder, who later ended up at Real Madrid, had been on the agenda, but he would only have been targeted if the circumstances lined up, as Deco revealed.

“It wasn’t the position we were looking for. I adore him, he is Portuguese and has been one of the best in the world in recent years in his position. He wanted to come to Barça, but it didn’t happen because we have our own parameters. There was an economic issue, but also playing time. He wanted to play, but I preferred to bet on our own players.”

Deco: We thought Rodri wouldn’t leave Man City

Instead, Barcelona brought in Silva’s former Manchester City teammate, Rodri. Deco opened up on the club’s pursuit of the 2026 World Cup Golden Ball, which developed quickly once it became known that he could leave the Premier League giants.

“A few months ago, we didn’t consider the signing because we thought he wouldn’t leave City. He had one more year on his contract. We thought they were going to renew him, but when we heard that Rodri could leave City, I spoke to Hugo Viana and called him to find out if it was true. He told me that he had an offer to renew but that if another offer came (from an interested club), they would not have the possibility of keeping him. We told the coach that there was this possibility and he said yes. From there, we spoke to his agent.”