Deco rules out Barcelona move for 54-goal prolific striker: ‘We already have Lewandowski’ | OneFootball

Barcelona lit up the world of football last season, and irrespective of who wins the UEFA Champions League tonight, it is clear as daylight that Hansi Flick’s men left the most lasting impression.

Heading into next season, they still find their hands relatively tied on the financial front but are looking to make the most of the small budget they can afford.

So far, they have been going in the right direction on that front with Joan Garcia emerging as their top target as of today in addition to a new left-winger.

Deco speaks

Speaking at the international congress of the National Association of Directors of Football in Portugal earlier today, Barcelona’s sporting director Deco was asked about the team’s recent season and their plan ahead.

“The successes of this season are the result of what the club has been doing in recent years,” he began, admitting the long-term project they have been working towards.

He then spoke out on what the club’s plan was last summer and the ideology with which they entered the market not only for new players but also a new manager.

“It was important to solve some internal problems, having as a priority to strengthen the staff and the structure of the club. We thought this would improve the team.”

“The clubs must have very solid structures, independent of the coaches, so as not to depend on them,” he added.

The Barcelona director was asked if Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres was a potential target for the club, after scoring 54 goals this season, to which he leaned more towards the negative in his reply.

Deco rules out move for Gyokeres. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

“I’m not going to talk about the transfer market here, because it’s not the right time. I came to talk about something else,” Deco noted.

“He’s a great player, who has scored a lot of goals in recent years at Sporting, but at the moment we’re not looking for that position. We already have Lewandowski to play at number 9, so it’s not a position we’re looking for,” he added.

In his first season at Barcelona, Hansi Flick won three trophies and is now already looking ahead to the next campaign. Deco had no doubts the story would not change going forward.

“No club is going to win every year, it just needs to compete every year. We have room to grow a few more years. We should not fall into the tendency to sign players unnecessarily.”

“We have to see what we have and what we need to achieve. Barcelona’s winning teams had players who came to the club with a name and others who wanted to win important things. That’s what’s happening now,” he added.

Speaking on Joao Felix and the manner of his departure from the club to Chelsea, the director said,

“He behaved very well with us. We couldn’t sign him and he ended up going to Chelsea and then to Milan.”

“Sometimes players have to be patient because soccer is not just about good moments. It seems that one gives up easily in bad times. Football is hard, sometimes unfair,” he added.

Source: A Bola