Jordi Cruyff also abandons Laporta
There is no calm for Barcelona, much less for Joan Laporta, who continues to lose important executives while external advisors, family members and agents continue to take positions. Two days after the first soccer team was proclaimed League champion in Cornellà, and 14 days after Mateu Alemany, soccer director, announced his departure, who now voluntarily takes the exit door is Jordi Cruyff. The sports director, unlike Alemany, concluded his contract on June 30. But after taking a few days of reflection after his area was left headless and already aware that whoever will take the reins in the construction of the new project will be the former Brazilian soccer player and now Deco representative, Cruyff has preferred not to delay his decision any longer.
The son of the Barça legend met this morning with Laporta to convey it to him despite the fact that the president wanted him to continue forming part of the structure and had let him know so. Later, the club issued an official statement in which it appealed to the “desire to undertake new professional projects” to argue its departure after two seasons of work that have ended with the Barcelona League title after four years of drought.
Barcelona, as it happened with Mateu Alemany, assures that Jordi Cruyff will offer his “maximum collaboration” in closing the pending operations of the summer market. Some of them, such as the Athletic central defender Iñigo Martínez, have already been agreed. Others, such as that of the German midfielder from Manchester City llkay Gündogan, who is also ending his contract, are aimed at failing to agree on the salary to be collected. In any case, the Barça club intends to fill the hole left by Sergio Busquets as a midfielder in the next market -Martín Zubimendi, a Real Sociedad midfielder, is Xavi Hernández's priority, despite the fact that the Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes presses so that the position is for his represented Rúben Neves-; the always neglected plot of the right-back, with the Argentine Juan Foyth another year as a candidate; a center forward who can offer relief to Lewandowski -Aubameyang intends to return, even more so with Deco in charge of operations-; and, above all, there is still an offer to be made that Leo Messi can accept and that will make him move away from the siren songs of Saudi Arabia.
In any case, Laporta now has a free hand to incorporate Deco, for whom “the role of Txiki Begiristain” has been destined for his first presidential term – this was stated last Monday in an interview on TV3 – and who has already held meetings with the dome to deal with the future.
Last Saturday, on the eve of the duel in Cornellà against Espanyol in which Barcelona would settle the title, Xavi praised Jordi Cruyff for his key role in reshaping the team: “I have tremendous confidence in him. He is a very loyal, very valid, transcendental and very important person.. It has helped me a lot.”
It will be up to the Barcelona coach, then, to deal with his former teammate Deco when he can make it official that he is breaking ties with his representation agency, which is the one that led to the arrival of the winger Raphinha at the Barça club a year ago.
Not even the joy unleashed through the streets of Barcelona during the massive parade last Monday appeases a club where the doors keep turning.