FC Barcelona have lost their director of football Mateu Alemany.
FC Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany will leave the club as revealed in an official statement which confirmed Deco would be sporting director for the next three years.
In an-email that was sent to members of the press approaching 14.30 on Wednesday, Barca said that the first team player from 2004-2008 "will be in charge of setting the sporting philosophy of FC Barcelona, creating the squad together with the coach and the technical staff and becoming the most responsible [person] for the football section" of the club.
"This addition is in line with the statement issued on May 2 in which the President and the Director of the Football Area, Mateu Alemany, agreed to release him from his responsibilities once the current transfer market has ended next September 2," Barca continued.
"According to the aforementioned statement, Deco and Mateu Alemany will work together until the summer market closes. In the coming weeks, the Club will detail the sports structure of FC Barcelona," the statement concluded.
Alemany's loss comes as a blow to the club and its fans, who were left perplexed back in May when it appeared as though he would leave for Premier
They view him as the person responsible for guiding Barca through a financial crisis to become La Liga champions again last term, thanks to overseeing much-needed player sales, salary reductions and incoming transfers.
Alemany performed a dramatic U-turn and decided not to head to England. But with the summer still not over, it seems that he will finally depart from the post he assumed in March 2021 when Joan Laporta won the presidential election.
According to SPORT, Laporta informed Alemany that he would not continue in the sports area of the club on Monday, with full control now handed over to Deco.
Laporta offered Alemany a position elsewhere behind the scenes at the club, but it seems that the former lawyer has opted not to take it.
With just over a fortnight until the transfer window closes, Deco and Alemany could still oversee the potential sales of players such as Ansu Fati and Clement Lenglet while Portuguese duo Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix could be brought in.