Agent who masterminded Raphinha’s Leeds United transfer handed full-time job at Barcelona

FC Barcelona have officially hired Raphinha’s former agent as their new sporting director.

The La Liga giants have spent recent years navigating financial crisis after financial crisis, still managing to sign big-name players like Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha despite finding themselves struggling to abide by La Liga’s strict salary caps. The man behind some of those signings was Mateu Alemany, who rejected a position at Aston Villa over the summer.

Though, in a recent twist, it was decided that Barcelona and Alemany would go their seperate ways, requiring a new sporting director at Spotify Camp Nou - albeit Barca are currently playing elsewhere due to works at their historic stadium.

Barca have now decided to officially announce the hiring of former midfielder Deco, who has spent recent years working as an agent. The Portuguese notably masterminded Raphinha’s £50million move from Leeds United to Camp Nou, using his old Barca contacts to pull off the deal, and those contacts have proved doubly useful.

Deco now has a new job, with Raphinha forced into finding a new agent over the summer. Barca were meant to announce Deco as sporting director in the summer, but Alemany’s decision to reject Aston Villa meant the decision was delayed. Although, Deco has already been working with Barca, over recent months, pulling off deals such as the one that saw Joao Cancelo arriva in Catalonia.

“I’m excited and happy,” Deco said after his new position was confirmed. “The sporting structure on paper is very nice, but the important thing is the daily work and the effort. Things don’t happen by chance.”

Speaking about Deco’s predecessor Alemany, Barca president Joan Laporta said: “He has managed a very complicated period in the sporting department successfully, with lots of obstacles. He has done excellently. He has built a very competitive sporting project. He is intelligent, a great professional, very able and a great person. I wish him lots of luck wherever he goes.”

Deco made 113 league appearances for Barcelona between 2004 and 2008, winning two La Liga titles, two Spanish Super Cups and a Champions League.