This is the second time this year Barcelona have announced that Mateu Alemany is leaving his role as sporting director. This time, it should be definitive.
Although Wednesday’s announcement was not as shocking as when, back in May, Alemany revealed he was departing for Aston Villa, the timing and tone of the Barcelona statement confirming his departure was brutal and surprising. Even senior figures from the club, including manager Xavi, did not know it was coming. It came as news to the dressing room, too.
Details were shared in the very same statement in which Deco was officially named as Barca’s new sporting director. The Brazilian has been effectively in this role for months, but the club had not publicly confirmed it until now.
“Deco will be in charge of setting FC Barcelona’s sporting philosophy and putting together the squad with the coach and the coaching and becoming head of the football section,” Barca’s statement read, adding that he has signed a three-year deal.
Then came the unexpected bit.
“This incorporation is in line with the statement released on May 2 in which the president and director of football Mateu Alemany agreed his release from his duties once the current transfer window comes to an end on September 2.”
This is basically Barcelona stating that as there was no formal announcement made on Alemany’s return after he U-turned on joining Villa, the same conditions should apply as were agreed when he was leaving: that he will be gone by the end of the summer transfer window.
There is still no confirmation on whether Alemany will take on a new role at the club or decide to permanently leave Barca. What’s clear is that this latest development is unexpected.
Alemany has been a crucial figure behind the scenes at Barca (Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
According to those close to Xavi, who, like all sources cited here preferred to speak anonymously to protect their positions, the manager had no idea that Alemany’s departure was going to be announced. The manager, though, was fully aware that official confirmation of Deco’s role was set for this week.
Looking at what Alemany himself said about his situation back in May, there was no sign then that he expected to leave soon.
“Aston Villa have an impressive sporting project and one of the best managers in Europe in charge, but after a well-thought reflection process, I’ve decided my place is here in Barcelona,” he told DAZN on May 20.
“I am very committed to this club, the biggest in the world. I want to stay here, and the president wants me here. I hope I can stay for a long time.”
The previous day, Xavi had confirmed and celebrated Alemany’s continuity at the club: “Mateu (Alemany) told us he wants to stay here,” he said. “He is an extraordinary person, a hard worker. He’s put a lot of order and structure inside this club.”
And at the end of the season, it was the turn of Joan Laporta, who said this in an interview with Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo: “I’m so happy he is staying. He is a key person in the assembling of our team, making it more competitive every year. He is full of serenity, he does not lose his temper during negotiations, knows how to be insistent and patient. He is very skilled.”
So why is Alemany set to leave now?
The answer has everything to do with the arrival of Deco and a new structure inside the sporting direction of the club.
???? Deco, nuevo director deportivo del FC Barcelona
✍️ El exjugador blaugrana entre 2004 y 2008 firma para las tres próximas temporadas
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) August 16, 2023
Deco’s story at Barcelona (as an executive rather than a player) has been linked with Alemany since the start. When Alemany announced his departure back in early May, the club started exploring new candidates to replace him. Laporta believed Deco was the best option.
The decision to bring in Deco, who played for Barca for four years between 2004 and 2008, also saw Jordi Cruyff leave. Cruyff had been partnering with Alemany for the previous two seasons and was very close to Xavi.
“We had a structure in which everyone knew very well what we had to do and how to operate together,” a club source told The Athletic in June when asked how Alemany, Cruyff and Xavi worked together.
While Alemany was the person in charge to conclude negotiations with new or current players, Cruyff was the one who would make the first approach to prospective signings and reveal the footballing vision Xavi and his staff had for them. The two sporting directors were described as good cop and bad cop (with Cruyff the good cop).
The decision to appoint Deco, who at that moment was still operating as a football agent, was in theory a replacement for Cruyff, who left after his contract expired on June 30. In practical terms, it has not been like that.
Alemany and Cruyff, pictured in May (Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Laporta promised Deco at the start of May, when it seemed Alemany was out of the club, that he would become the main figure inside Barcelona’s sporting direction.
The president also demanded Deco stop working as an agent. The Brazilian-born former Portugal international was Raphinha’s agent and was involved in the deal that brought him to Barca last summer when the 26-year-old turned down rival interest from Chelsea.
Deco accepted and agreed to Laporta’s request to take a step away from his agency. On June 20 this year, his old company, D20 Sports, formally announced its closure. Being the main figure in Barcelona’s recruitment department was an offer too good to turn down.
Less than a month after announcing he was going to leave in early May, Alemany called president Laporta and asked for a meeting over a private lunch. There, Alemany revealed he now regretted his decision and asked to stay.
While Laporta was happy to accept the 60-year-old’s proposal, the news was unsurprisingly not received with the same enthusiasm among Deco’s camp.
The new sporting director had already set his mind on becoming Barcelona’s main man on recruitment and did not plan to reduce that status. He has been working in the shadows all summer as one of the biggest forces during potential transfer discussions and has not hesitated in making his ideas clear to the club.
One Barca source put it like this: “Deco asked us to have full powers.”
There are some other sources who reveal there was something broken between the level of trust from the club with Alemany after the Aston Villa episode. But leaving aside unsubstantiated rumour, Alemany has played a fundamental role during the past two years at Barcelona and no one at the club could imagine achieving the success of last season’s La Liga title without his influence in the highest offices at the Camp Nou. Alemany has been approached for comment.
What does all this mean for the rest of Barcelona’s transfer window? On Thursday, The Athletic will publish a detailed look at what the club plans to achieve before September 2 and how they will do it.
For now, it’s time for Deco to prove that he is ready for the biggest role of his professional life since retiring as a player.
(Top photo: Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
