Mateu Alemany, FC Barcelona’s director of football has decided not to leave the club following interest from Premier League club Aston Villa.
According to reports, Mateu Alemany has made a huge U-turn on his future and has concluded to stay with the recent La Liga champions.
FC Barcelona announced Alemany’s exit earlier this month as he was expected to join Aston Villa in the English Premier League.
However, according to Barcelona’s head coach Xavi Hernandez, the Barca director of football has changed his mind after visiting Birmingham.
Mateu Alemany has since taken further discussions with Barcelona and decided to stay at Camp Nou and proceed in his recent role.
The news is good for Barcelona, especially since the club has already revealed that Jordi Cruyff will be leaving in the summer.
Since joining the club in 2021, Alemany has been in charge of all transfer dealings, and his expertise will be required as the upcoming summer season looks set to be quite hectic.
The Catalans want Lionel Messi back from PSG, and they also need to sign Ronald Araujo and Gavi to new deals.
Barca also needs to reduce expenses to meet Financial Fair Play requirements, although La Liga rejected an original feasibility plan before the transfer season opened.
Alemany’s decision will also be a disappointment for Aston Villa, who appeared to have accomplished a major coup by hiring the Barca top gun.
Meanwhile, the Premier League club will have to reevaluate their summer plans after learning that Alemany will not be able to facilitate a transfer for Real Madrid forward Marco Asensio.
On the other hand, Deco, a former midfielder for Barca and Portugal, has signed on to work in recruitment alongside Alemany, who has a deal with the Catalan club until 2024.
Deco has been representing players like Barca forward Raphinha as an agent since his retirement, but it is expected that he will have to give up this post to take on the new one at Barca.
Alemany came to Barcelona in 2021 after Joan Laporta was elected president, and he oversaw a hectic summer of transfers in which the Blaugrana surrendered club assets to pay for the signings of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Jules Kounde, among others.
The transfer guru, who worked with Cruyff, has been praised for his role in assembling the team that led Barca to their first La Liga championship since 2019.
Alemany’s expertise in the financial fair play regulations of La Liga was one of his greatest assets. Barca will spend yet another transfer window trying to bolster their team while adhering to La Liga’s rules.
To register new contracts for first-team players and make new acquisitions, Barca needs to reduce expenses by more than €150 million or raise, through transfer fees, more than €100 million.
Now that their group stage exits in the Champions League have been consecutive, Barca will look to Alemany and Deco to take on that challenge as they attempt to build on their success in La Liga this season.
Fun fact about Mateu Alemany;
Alemany switched careers from law to football in the 1990s, first as chief executive and then as president of his hometown La Liga team Mallorca.
He later joined Valencia as their director of football from 2017 to 2019, where he was influential in assembling the team that ultimately defeated Barca and won the Copa del Rey in 2019.
After two years away from the field, he returned to Barca as a member of Laporta’s backroom staff when the latter was re-elected as the club’s president. Laporta had previously served as president from 2003 to 2010.
While at Spotify Camp Nou, he has dealt with several financial issues, including the loss of Lionel Messi, but he has still managed to develop the team while adhering to La Liga’s stringent financial standards.
