Deco talks Lamine, Rashford, Flick, Laporta, La Masia, Camp Nou – ‘We are going in the right direction’ | OneFootball

During his visit to London earlier this week, for FC Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League clash against Chelsea, which ended in a 3-0 defeat, the Catalans’ sporting director, Deco, sat down for an interview with The Times.

As a player, the former Portuguese midfielder had spent time at Chelsea, having joined them from Barcelona back in 2008, spending two years before moving to Brazil.

So, in a sense, it was a special feeling for Deco, who not only reflected on his time at Chelsea, but also discussed what made him return to Barcelona as director, giving up his career as a player agent.

“My dream was to play for Barcelona when I was young, and I realised that dream, I’m a fan of the club,” he said. “Since retirement, I’ve kept friends there, I have a house there.

“The club needed a change, a rebuild, and I wanted to help from the outside. It was not my idea to become sporting director. After his election, the president always said to me: ‘You need to become sporting director.’”

On Marcus Rashford

One of the most notable signings Deco has made since his arrival in 2023 was that of Marcus Rashford, who arrived on loan from Manchester United last summer and is excelling at Barcelona.

The Blaugrana sporting director said that Rashford’s move has worked out very well for all parties so far and that the club are delighted with him.

“We were looking for a player like him on the market. A player that could play in the three positions up front. We were able to sign Marcus on loan now because of his desire to play for Barcelona,” noted Deco.

“He waited a lot. He knew that we were dealing with financial rules. But he was patient. He waited and we’re happy to have him.”

Deco believes Rashford suffered in the past because Manchester United’s situation did not help him either.

“He’s happy with us. Marcus is a fantastic player. He faced the responsibility of becoming an important player at Man United — United, like us, are one of the biggest clubs in the world — too young. He suffered a bit with this change of generation at United too.”

Rashford and Barcelona are happy with each other. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

“If you see United in the last five years, they had difficulties rebuilding the team, to become stronger again. He was there. So it’s not easy for a player [from whom] people demand a lot. When you are an important player, you have a lot of responsibility.”

Given how things have gone so far, the sense within Barcelona is that they would like to keep Rashford at the club beyond this season, with a €30 million purchase clause embedded in the loan agreement with Manchester United.

In the end, though, the club’s finances and the player’s performances will dictate the final decision.

Finances and La Masia

Touching on the financial situation at Barcelona and how it has impacted the club’s operation in the transfer market, Deco credited president Joan Laporta for the way he had handled things.

“When the president arrived, it was a difficult time for the club, in terms of coming from Covid. Revenues decreased a lot, we had a lot of players with huge salaries, older players, a changing generation,” he said.

“You need to rebuild the club. It’s step by step. The president is very brave. He had courage to be involved in the club, at the same time to rebuild the team, the stadium, the financials, so it’s not easy. But the club is going in the right direction now.”

Regarding Barcelona’s reliance on talents from La Masia, Deco made it clear that they count on their academy not because of the club’s finances but because of the quality that these players possess.

“In terms of a sporting director, you need to look at what you have inside the club and then after you need to go to the market,” Deco said.

“When you have players like Lamine [Yamal], [Pau] Cubarsi, Gavi or [Alejandro] Balde, Marc Casado is an important player for us now, you don’t need to be in the market. You don’t need to buy players.”

Continuing, he added: “People say to me, ‘Because of the financial situation, Barcelona are using young players.’ It’s not true. We are using young players because they are good enough. If they are not good, it’s impossible to play for Barcelona.

“We had luck in terms of the quality of this generation, because we then didn’t need to go to the market in some positions. La Masia has helped us. But it has helped us because they are good players.”

Lamine Yamal is undoubtedly the biggest star to have come through the academy ranks in recent years and is now the face of the team, with Deco and Barcelona even renewing his contract recently.

The sporting director, though, understands that for the club to be able to retain top talents like Lamine, they also need to build a strong squad around him.

“If this happens, Lamine is going to be happy. I know that Lamine’s desire and dreams are to win something important for Barcelona. If I was Lamine, I would be watching what the club is doing,” he remarked.

The face of this Barcelona team – Lamine Yamal. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

“This is something that we have brought back,” he added. “When you are an intelligent player like Marcus, [you sign] not because you like the club, [but because] you want to win titles.”

Deco also made it clear that one of his main priorities was to renew the contracts of young players at the club – something that he has achieved with great efficiency over the past year.

At the same time, though, he acknowledged that the economic situation forces him and the club to consider sales whenever needed.

“Our main idea is not to sell players, Barcelona is not a club that [likes to] do that,” he said.

“But of course we need to improve in terms of that, because sometimes you need to sell players too. To sell young players, you need control. You need to pay attention to when their contracts finish. You need to make a plan for their future.”

On Flick and Camp Nou return

Despite the visit to Stamford Bridge ending in a 3-0 defeat for Barcelona, Deco insisted he was happy with how things are going under Hansi Flick, stating that the German has brought “stability” to the team.

Regarding Barcelona’s reopening and return to the renovated Spotify Camp Nou, the director remarked:

“It’s going to be one of the best stadiums in the world. Most of the revenues come from the stadium so this is very important for us. We are going in the right direction.”

“In terms of the team, of course, you need to have time. All the big teams try to improve. We need to pay attention to that. We need to do our job,” he concluded.