More shade cast on Joan Laporta and Deco as Barcelona chief tried to backtrack in winter transfer window

Barcelona President Joan Laporta is set to come into the crosshairs of the Barcelona pressure in the coming months, as Xavi Hernandez’s upcoming departure nears. It will be Laporta and Sporting Director Deco who will have to decide on the new direction of matters in Catalonia, and without Xavi to handle most of the criticism, if things continue to go wrong from here, it will be their necks on the line.

According to Sport, Laporta is made a curious move towards the end of the January transfer window, which finished on the 1st of February, but it wasn’t for a player. Laporta was spotted in Palma de Mallorca, and they claim a meeting took place in a restaurant called El Portitxol with former Director of Football Mateu Alemany.

The purpose was to persuade Alemany to come back to the club, after he was forced out in August to make room for Sporting Director Deco, who wanted full power over transfers. It is not clear what exact role Alemany would have had, but he rejected Laporta’s offer outright. He has been linked with a position at Atletico Madrid and to the presidency of the Spanish Football Federation, but had no plans to return to the Blaugrana.

The natural assumption is that Laporta feels Barcelona are missing his expertise – Alemany oversaw the construction of the squad that won La Liga last season. The former Valencia sporting director originally planned to leave for Aston Villa last April, but that move fell apart due to disagreements with Unai Emery. By the time he had changed his mind, moves had been made to bring Deco in already, who desired full control.