The ideal Deco market

BarcelonaWhen Athletic Club communicated Nico Williams' renewal Last Friday morning, Barça's executive president, Joan Laporta, understood the magnitude of the Basque institution as a rival in the football circles. Because if Félix Tainta, the Navarrese winger's representative, asked for registration guarantees before definitively signing the transfer, it was because the president of the Basque club, Jon Uriarte, had previously inquired at La Liga headquarters about the Barça's limitations regarding registration. fair play financial. After this visit to Madrid, Tainta's reluctance is understandable. Last summer, he also made Nico understand that it wasn't prudent to go to Barça if the registration wasn't guaranteed on paper.

Before the doubts surrounding Williams' renewal until 2035 in exchange for the highest salary in Athletic's history, Tainta offered the player to Barça's sporting director, Anderson Luís de Souza, Deco, in a meeting in the middle of last month in Barcelona. Although the Barça executive welcomed the interest, it was Laporta who took the decisive step to sign Lamine Yamal's best friend for the Spanish national team. Aware of the great excitement the signing generated among Barcelona fans, the president put aside his anger over the 2024 deadline and activated the machinery to pay the second termination clause of the summer after that of Joan Garcia. Consequently, Deco, accompanied by Bojan Krkić, traveled to Ibiza to communicate these intentions to Hansi Flick, who accepted the move with German sportsmanship.

But neither the coach nor the sporting director were genuinely in favor of signing Williams. In fact, as recognized at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, the Navarrese's refusal has become an opportunity above all for Deco, who has been repeating internally for months the need for this winning Barça to reinforce itself with footballers who are at the ideal point of maturity. Not as veterans as Robert Lewandowski (36) or Iñigo Martínez (34), but not as young as Lamine Yamal (17), Pau Cubarsí (18), Pedri (22) or Nico himself (22). Therefore, in parallel with the economic struggle to achieve the 1:1 rule of the fair play Financially, the end of the Williams series opens a calmer scenario for negotiations with Liverpool for Luis Díaz, a transfer like the ones we've always had. With back-and-forth over price, an agent playing both sides in search of the best terms, and, importantly, with more than a month to go before the official competition begins.

Raphinha and Olmo, the exception of recent summers

The Colombian winger was the first choice of both Deco and Flick to reinforce a short-handed attack, and the events of recent days have only repositioned the pieces. However, Barça admits that the deal is "complicated" because Bayern Munich is also playing its part in signing a player who will turn 29 in January and who, indeed, fits the commitment to immediate performance that two of the most important figures in Barça's sporting planning have been advocating for months.

Díaz will cost no less than 60 million; he will want to be paid like a striker. top who has just won the Premier League and will also ask for some kind of registration guarantee. Given these demanding conditions, the club is considering Marcus Rashford, who Manchester United doesn't count on. He also has a high salary but could join Barcelona on loan. Furthermore, his age—he will be 28 in October—fits in with the shortcomings Deco and Flick see in the Barça squad. The English winger performed well against Aston Villa in the second half of last season, and if he joins on loan, the bet is low-risk.

Be that as it may, with the young Williams completely ruled out, Deco can finally tap into his ideal market: players between 25 and 30 years old with empty stomachs, energy for five years, and at the same time sufficient accumulated experience. They are the most expensive, the backbone of established projects, and Barça, in these recent years of economic crisis, have only been able to incorporate them in dribs and drabs and under special conditions. Free transfers, such as Memphis Depay (27), Franck Kessie (26) and Andreas Christensen (26), or from second-tier clubs, such as Raphinha from Leeds (25) and Dani Olmo from Leipzig (26).