Barcelona President Joan Laporta on Deco – ‘I’ve feared for his health, he’s the reason we have Hansi Flick’

Barcelona President Joan Laporta has given his full backing to Sporting Director Deco, less than 48 hours after the club released a statement denying that there were doubts over his continuity. It has been reported that Deco was reconsidering his position due to the lack of resources available to him in the summer transfer window.

Laporta, during a lengthy press conference to assess the state of the club’s finances and their actions in the transfer market, credited Deco with signing manager Hansi Flick.

“I want to say that we are very happy with the coach we have. La Masia has an impact on the first team, it is the backbone of our sporting project. We are very satisfied with Deco’s work. Thanks to him we have Flick. He has done a great job to renew the contracts of the young players. The good understanding that Deco and Alexanko have made this possible.”

“Another of Deco’s merits is the preparation of the squad and the restructuring of the sports hierarchy. Deco and his team, with Bojan [Krkic] and Enric [Masip], have done an extraordinary job registering players. Extraordinary work has been done that I want to recognise. He is the architect of the signings of Dani Olmo and Pau Victor. I like that Olmo has been signed, I want to thank him for his willingness, but there has been very intense work.”

Laporta: "Relations with Real Madrid are bad because they resorted to the Negreira case and that's unacceptable. Let them do what they think and we will do what we think."

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) September 3, 2024

The Blaugrana boss also felt that Deco should be given some of the credit for Barcelona’s good start to their league campaign. While there has not been much in the way of signings, Laporta felt that there were other reasons to be pleased with his work.

“We already said that we were prepared to make a large investment. We have left Barca, Leipzig and the player satisfied. Deco is also the architect of the hiring of physical trainers. He is one of the keys to this very positive start to La Liga. With Deco the wage bill has been reduced and the quality of the squad has improved. Now the squad is worth more than in 2021. The average age has been reduced and I am satisfied because he looked at La Masia first. This helps the economic viability of the club. Deco transmits his knowledge to us. He worked in many areas in the world of football and gives him a very broad vision.”

Rather than his future employment prospects, Laporta has worried that Deco was too stressed over the summer – that was one of the reasons cited for the Brazilian-Portuguese potentially leaving the club.

“I have feared for his health because everything was very stressful. These summers are superlatively stressful, but I have not feared for his continuity in the club. We have sufficient confidence and he is very comfortable. We can see the work and we can be satisfied,” Laporta said.

It seems as if Deco is set to remain at the club, otherwise it would be surprising that Laporta would speak with such confidence on the matter. Even if he has undoubtedly been hamstrung by Barcelona’s financial issues, and despite Laporta’s praise, Deco has come under pressure for his work in the transfer market, chiefly spending big on youngster Vitor Roque.