Barca was manipulated…
Jorge Mendes is considered a “super stork” in the football village. He is currently the client of many names such as superstars Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, David De Gea, Joao Felix or coach Jose Mourinho.. In the past, he used to storm and even cause disruptions in the fields. Europe’s top teams like Chelsea or Real Madrid…
Mendes has recently been reported to be manipulating Barca. Although only representing young players such as Ansu Fati, Alejandro Balde, Lamine Yamal, or Nico Gonzalez – the 21-year-old midfielder is on loan to Valencia – but the shadow of the Portuguese “super agent” covers the Camp Nou today. greater. It has been suggested that Mendes is currently overtaking coach Xavi.
The reason is, Mendes has a very close relationship with Barca president Joan Laporta. According to the country’s media, the close relationship between this “super stork” and the big boss of the Catalunya club lasted since Mr. Laporta’s previous term – that is, nearly two decades.
Coach Xavi was also troubled
In recent days, Mendes has repeatedly made coach Xavi fall into an awkward position. All related to the fact that Sergio Busquets will leave Camp Nou after the 2022/23 season ends and Barca need to find a replacement star. As head coach, Xavi targets Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. In the event that the 24-year-old cannot be obtained, he plans to push midfielder Eric Garcia to fill the position left by Busquets.
But Mendes, through president Laporta, wants to bring back to Camp Nou a midfielder who is completely against the will of coach Xavi. Specifically, the Portuguese “super agent” asked Mr. Laporta to bring Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves to Barca to replace Busquets’ role. Of course, that opinion of Mendes was strongly opposed by Xavi. The 43-year-old coach insists that Neves is not suitable for the Catalan team’s style of play.
A few days ago, Mendes once again raised the issue with President Laporta about Neves’ case. As the 26-year-old’s agent, he took the initiative to make an offer that made Mr. Laporta forced to consider. It is known that this “super trigger” suggested that Barca use young striker Ansu Fati as part of the Neves deal. Specifically, the football prodigy once praised as “Lionel Messi II” will join Wolves this summer. In the opposite direction, Barca will have Neves for free, plus 30 million euros in pocket from the transfer of Fati.
Barca has always been in a state of “craving for money”. Thus, Mendes’ proposal was almost impossible to refuse. It must also be emphasized that, in the 2022/23 season, Fati did not contribute much to the La Liga championship due to frequent struggles with injuries. The club leaders themselves as well as coach Xavi also began to run out of patience with the 20-year-old striker. So, almost certainly, “super agent” Mendes will defeat Xavi in ​​the “Neves war”.
Another idea of ​​Mendes is also being paid special attention by President Laporta. Such is the case with right-back Joao Cancelo. The Portuguese player is currently playing for Bayern Munich on loan from Man City. With the arrival of coach Thomas Tuchel at the Allianz, it seems that Mendes’ client has no hope of being bought by the traditionally rich German team. While due to disagreement with coach Pep Guardiola, Cancelo was also “blocked” the way back to Etihad.
So Mendes advised president Laporta to bring Cancelo to Camp Nou in the upcoming summer transfer window. This seems to be a too reasonable idea, making coach Xavi unable to argue. Everyone knows, the right-back position has always been Barca’s weak point since the departure of Dani Alves in 2016. Meanwhile, Cancelo has confirmed his class in the right-back role. The Portuguese star himself was also shown special interest by the Catalunya team a few years ago.
Bring Deco back to pose… pincers
The reason why coach Xavi still has a voice to prevent money-heavy advice rather than Mendes’ expertise for president Laporta is because the Portuguese “super agent” is still an outsider at Camp Nou anyway. But here, the situation is likely to change. If former player Deco takes the position of sporting director of Barca. At that time, Xavi was like being caught between pincers with one side being the president of Laporta, and the other side was Mendes.
Mendes was Deco’s representative. He has been acting as a negotiator to bring this talented former midfielder back to Camp Nou to hold the position of sporting director. Negotiations are going very smoothly and it is likely that Deco will be appointed by Mr. Laporta soon. By then, Mendes will be standing behind Barca’s new sporting director to pull the strings in most transfers at Camp Nou and Xavi will have nothing to do with it.
Since taking over the coaching bench at Camp Nou, coach Xavi has quickly revived Barca. He has been successful in building up a team capable of competing for the championship in all competitions. In particular, Barca has just won the La Liga championship this season. In the upcoming summer transfer window, Xavi will definitely still need to add a few stars. However, he wanted to find people on his own accord, not under the influence of “super-trigger” Mendes.
According to some sources, besides midfielder Zubimendi, coach Xavi is also targeting 3 other goals. It is the midfield duo of Man City including Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan, and especially striker Lionel Messi – the player who has confirmed his determination to leave PSG after the 2022/23 season ends.
Barca is about to renew with Xavi
President Joan Laporta of Barca recently shared about extending the contract with coach Xavi Hernandez: “There will be no problem. He is someone who has been with the club for many years now. He fully understands the club’s plight and he deserves the club’s recognition.”
