The newspaper ‘Sport’ reports that Joan Laporta, on the last day of the winter transfer window, travelled to Palma de Mallorca to meet with Mateu Alemany and propose that he return to the club’s organisational structure.
Joan Laporta travelled to Palma de Mallorca on Thursday 1st February, the last day of the transfer window, to meet with his former sporting director, Mateu Alemany, at the Mia restaurant in El Portitxol. His intention was to put on the table the possibility of returning to an organisation chart from which he left in September last year, when Deco took on the duties of sporting director and technical secretary, an area that had been vacated by Jordi Cruyff with his departure, in parallel to that of the islander.
The meeting between the president and his former right-hand man came to light thanks to a report in the newspaper ‘Sport’, which states, in its pages, that it is now that it can be told. At first, it seemed that the presence of the ‘Cules’ chief in Mallorca could be due to hypothetical negotiations to bring forward the signing of a new coach for next season, as Xavi had already announced that he would be leaving on 30th June. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It should be noted that the current structure of the ‘Cules’ board is still ‘young’. It has not been long since the Barcelona bosses unveiled their hierarchy at a formal press conference, which included well-known names such as Bojan Krkic, an old promise who is now in charge of coordinating relations between the first team and the reserve team, under the orders of Rafa Marquez.
Mateu Alemany had begun his work at Barcelona in March 2021. In his two-year tenure, he had restored an institutional image of authority that had helped Joan Laporta to balance the club’s accounts, which had deteriorated after Josep Maria Bartomeu’s sinuous tenure. In addition, the former sporting director was an important asset on the European Super League front, which looks set for further turbulence this year. In any case, he rejected Laporta’s offer: returning is not in his life’s plans.
BeSoccer, “Alemany Rejected to Return to Barcelona in January,” Besoccer.com (BeSoccer, February 12, 2024), https://www.besoccer.com/new/alemany-rejected-to-return-to-barcelona-in-january-1301763.
