Deco talks Frenkie, Lewandowski, Joan Garcia, Rashford, Roony, Inigo Martinez, Xavi, Flick, Thiago | OneFootball

It has only been a few weeks since the summer transfer window ended, but the FC Barcelona Sporting Director, Deco, remains busy with some other tasks that they have pending. Among these tasks are also the renewals of some of their important players.

As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the Blaugrana Sporting Director, Deco, recently appeared in an interview with the Brazilian outlet Lance and talked about the different operations underway at the Catalan club.

Frenkie de Jong is one player whose contract negotiations are underway, and the Portuguese official provided an update on his situation:

“We are in talks. I think we will reach an agreement. He is an important player for us. I think he is happy at Barcelona, and we are also happy with him.”

Robert Lewandowski will have his contract ending at the end of the season, and the Barcelona official also commented on his situation:

“It is a different situation. Robert was important, and he still is for us. I also think that, given his age and his career, he will live year by year. There comes a moment in a player’s career when you don’t make too many long-term plans. I think he is focused on this year. So are we, and we’ll see.

He is a player who depends much more on his will, on how he feels, on how he sees things. And we’ll see his progress over the year. And we’ll talk about it.”

The Portuguese official also highlighted his department’s successes in the last few months:

“The main priority was to keep what we had and try not to lose any important players. We managed to renew the contracts of Lamine, Raphinha, and Koundé. The idea was to maintain the core of the team we’ve been building in recent years and try to improve it.”

Deco also commented on why the goalkeeper Joan Garcia was signed last summer:

“Joan Garcia was a goalkeeper we had been following for a while. He was not a priority this summer but ended up being one due to Ter Stegen’s injuries last year. We made this decision in a position where we hadn’t had this urgency for two years.”

Marcus Rashford was another player who arrived last summer, and Deco talked about why he was brought in:

“We needed a player like him, who can play both on the wing and inside. That was part of our reflection. The summer focused on that; we didn’t think we needed an urgent change, unless something happened at the last minute.”

The Barcelona official also justified the incorporation of Roony Bardghji:

“We brought in Roony, who is a young kid, and we had been following him for some time. We included many young players for the preseason, and we have two or three players we believe can establish themselves in the first team.”

Inigo Martinez was one of the most notable departures last summer, and Deco explained why he left:

“It was an unforeseen problem with Iñigo Martínez, who had an offer from Saudi Arabia. It was a different matter, especially given his age, and we had to let him finish his career as he wanted, out of gratitude.”

The Portuguese official also overviewed the general situation of the market, and particularly praised PSG for their team:

“There are many teams that have strengthened very well, like Liverpool, who have signed players, and Real Madrid as well. The teams are stronger. We need to be very strong if we want to aim for the final.”

“PSG is an incredible team; they have managed to build a squad in recent years, they have made the right signings, they have a coach I like a lot, who is very competitive and serious, and they are again one of the main candidates to win the Champions League. It’s going to be a good and attractive match, but it’s more of a qualification game.”

“We need to go step by step. It’s no use dreaming about the Champions League if you don’t get past the group stage. It’s a good game, but we’ll try to get points to achieve our goal, which is qualification.”

Overall, Deco also expressed his satisfaction with the changes in the UCL format:

“I think last season was unfair with the away matches. The advantage of being among the top eight was lost for a while. We practically played all our knockout stage second legs away, like in the quarterfinals and semifinals. I thought the best teams should have that advantage. They corrected it this year, so there is always room for improvement, but I like the model.”

The Barcelona official also talked about the shift from Xavi Hernandez to Hansi Flick:

“Xavi was important in his time; he brought stability and managed to win. This transition from Xavi to Hansi… Maybe what we thought at that time was that we needed someone with different management skills, for several reasons. I think it ended up fitting perfectly in that sense. Everything went well.”

“Hansi is a modern coach, someone who worked for a long time as an assistant with the German national team. He was very successful with Germany and then with Bayern. Bayern was a team that played. A team that also captivated because it played attacking football, with a clear, offensive game plan, which resembles a little the idea of Barcelona.”

“Barcelona’s idea is always a team that looks for the game, that tries, that proposes. One can discuss the quality, but you don’t see a defensive team. Hansi managed to improve and maximize the potential of the players we had. I think that was the key to last season’s success.”

Lastly, Deco also commented on how Thiago Alcantara will help further improve the Catalan team:

“When Hansi arrived, he helped for just over a month. It was the transition after his departure. Because of the relationship we had, Hansi included him in the coaching staff and he was very important at the beginning. Then, for personal reasons, he couldn’t, as he was still living in England. There was always the possibility of him returning. And it is the coach’s commitment, we respect it.”

This interview from Deco clarifies a lot of things for the Barcelona fans. Hopefully, he will be able to reach a successful outcome in operations like the renewals of Frenkie de Jong, and continue helping the club remain one of the top sides in Europe.