We have a head of recruitment. Wasn’t the story thst we would simply enlarge his role/title?
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taidgh
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- Aug 13, 2004
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That was a guess, but because the club hasn't released any information that's all it was.
PrettyColors
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This is the guy who apparently discovered Eto’o back in the day. Appointed to Barca in summer 2021, obviously did deals for Raphinha, Kounde, Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, even Emerson Royal back in 2021. Tons of free transfers and loans too like Gundogan Auba even our favourite Adama Traore. Not convinced by Torres Kounde or Raphinha tbh.
how much of those signings is down to him though is very hard to say. He’s been working alongside Deco and then the board and their insane financial situation obviously has a huge impact on their transfer dealings.
how much of those signings is down to him though is very hard to say. He’s been working alongside Deco and then the board and their insane financial situation obviously has a huge impact on their transfer dealings.
spursy that LOL
barry
Bring me Messi
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He can't grow a good beard, I'm out
Darth Vega
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Apparently he made one visit to Birmingham and hated it so much he turned down the job
EQP
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Mateu Alemany: Why he's leaving Barcelona, why it matters and who might replace him
Barcelona are bidding farewell to the most important figure in their sporting direction, Mateu Alemany. This is why he resolved to leave
theathletic.com
Mateu Alemany: Why he’s leaving Barcelona, why it matters and who might replace him
Pol Ballús and Laia Cervelló Herrero
May 4, 2023
Barcelona had just beaten Osasuna thanks to a late Jordi Alba goal, and the mood back in the dressing room was buoyant.
Minds were turning to May 14, when Xavi’s side can seal the La Liga title with victory at the home of city rivals Espanyol, a situation made possible by the three points being celebrated on Tuesday night.
Then, a club statement dropped.
“Despite having a contract until 2024, Mateu Alemany has informed the FC Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, of his intention to begin a new professional project,” it read.
Fans were shocked. The players were too — they found out the same way. And it really is a blow.
In losing Alemany, Barca will be bidding farewell to the most pivotal figure in the club’s sporting direction. He was one of the key executives appointed following Laporta’s return in 2021, and his work only gained more importance as time went by.
Alemany was one of the figures behind Barcelona’s transformational recruitment drive last summer, financed by the series of asset sales that came to be known as ‘pulling financial levers’.
He did not work alone in convincing players such as Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha or Jules Kounde to turn down rival offers from top European clubs, but he became the public face of what had been achieved, in a process that helped Barca’s fanbase feel some much-needed status and prestige had been restored.
But in reality, despite the surprise on Tuesday, the motivating factors behind Alemany’s departure have been gathering for some time.
According to sources familiar with the situation — who, like all those cited in this story, preferred to remain anonymous when speaking with The Athletic in order to protect their positions — he has felt frustrated by his working conditions at Barca for months.
These sources say Alemany’s vision for the club has on occasion been marginalised in favour of shorter-term gain, which contrasted with the expectations he had for the role. Some of the squad additions made were seen as patches for the first team rather than decisions that would help build for a better future.
Barca’s financial situation has not helped either, although sources point out this is something Alemany was already aware of when he accepted the position.
There was also frustration on Alemany’s side for not being provided with the resources he believed necessary to build a solid recruitment department behind him, as well as a feeling that his work was often heavily focused on dealing with La Liga and the club’s inability to bring itself in line with the league’s salary-cap rules.
At Barca, he has felt, according to one source, that he’s been “managing misery at the club”.
All this has contributed to Alemany keeping his eyes open for opportunities elsewhere. He had a gentlemen’s agreement with Barcelona, which meant he would be free to consider an appealing proposal if one came up.
The project at Aston Villa offers him different conditions to work and economic stability.
There has also been tension with other members of the sporting leadership.
Club sources speak of disagreements over decisions made on some first-team players. Alemany did not want to renew the contract of Sergi Roberto but ended up doing so because Xavi and the club’s board wanted to keep him. Nor was Alemany convinced that Ousmane Dembele’s deal should be extended, as the club decided to.
Furthermore, regarding the possible return of Lionel Messi, Alemany does not think it makes sense to bet on a second spell with the Argentine, while the club does. The 60-year-old was not particularly impressed by senior figures fuelling the narrative of Messi’s return while the club is still struggling to secure the contract registrations of Gavi, Ronald Araujo and Alejandro Balde — each of them being fundamental players.
Alemany does not have a great relationship with the director in charge of Barcelona Atletic (the club’s reserve team) and the La Masia youth academy, Jose Ramon Alexanko.
According to sources with knowledge of the situation, he has found himself having to step in and solve problems during negotiations and did not trust that the club would not be caught out by mistakes made if he did not do so.
Alemany’s departure is damaging enough for Barca, but there is also uncertainty now over the future of fellow sporting director Jordi Cruyff. His contract ends this summer, and he has not yet made a decision on whether he wants to stay.
Barca are already looking at replacements for Alemany. The name of Antonio Cordon, a former Real Betis sporting director, was the first to emerge.
Cordon resigned from his role at Betis in February after disagreements with the board and since then has been rumoured with a role at Barca. He has links with Cruyff, as the pair worked together at the Football Association of Ecuador in 2020.
However, the leading candidate is now former Barcelona and Chelsea player Deco. The 45-year-old is currently working as an agent, and he represents Raphinha. He is also already working for Barcelona as the club’s main scout in Brazil, where he is tasked with following the market and identifying potential signings for the club.
That Deco is being considered for the role was first reported by Catalan radio station RAC1. The Athletic has confirmed these details with club sources and has also learned that he is currently in Brazil, with plans to travel to Barcelona next week to begin negotiations.
Deco and Laporta have a close bond. He was signed for Barcelona during Laporta’s first presidency back in 2003, and he’s since become one of his closest confidants. The Portuguese played a crucial role in bringing Raphinha to Spain amid rival interest from Arsenal and Chelsea — but he has never previously worked as a sporting director.
Alemany is not the only senior executive to leave Barca since Laporta returned to power.
Jaume Giro was supposed to be the club’s economic vice president but left just weeks into the job in March 2021, while Ferran Reverter departed his post as CEO seven months into his role, in February 2022. The official reason was that he wanted to spend more time with his family, but multiple sources have told The Athletic about many fundamental disputes behind the scenes.
Reverter wasn’t replaced by anyone, with Laporta deciding that several of the club’s executives would instead take up the responsibilities formerly required of the CEO. Alemany was one of those who had to take on extra work, in order to plug holes. It wasn’t strange to see him performing media commitments before and after games, or at press conferences.
According to sources close to the developments, Alemany feels that he will have the freedom to work at what he does best, at Villa, which is investing money in signings and looking to recoup as much back as possible in player sales. He also has the feeling that the club will tolerate less interference from agents. The opposite has been the case at Barca. In addition, he was offered a financial offer that the Spanish club cannot dream of matching.
A source who has closely worked with Alemany in recent years described him to The Athletic as a “tough but skilled negotiator, who is not afraid to be the bad cop”.
Laporta personally met Alemany during his first spell as Barcelona president (2003-2010). In 2004, Alemany was club president at Mallorca, and he and Laporta agreed the transfer of Samuel Eto’o to the Camp Nou, with the Cameroon striker then valued at €27m.
They built a good connection during the transfer talks, and that eventually led them to work together in Barcelona years later.
In his earlier years at Mallorca, working as a director, Alemany rejected an offer from Florentino Perez to take up a role at Real Madrid, as his club had already promised to make him president.
After spending 12 years at Mallorca, Alemany — who is a trained lawyer — left in 2006 and took a long break from working in football, before eventually returning in 2017.
He joined Valencia as a general director, appointed Marcelino as manager and is now seen as the architect of the last successful squad the club had. During his time at the club, Valencia finished in the top four in consecutive seasons, and won the 2019 Copa del Rey, beating Barcelona in the final.
However, there was a tense relationship with the ownership, led by Singapore businessman Peter Lim, and Alemany was eventually fired in November 201
Now, in losing Alemany, Barcelona will also lose its best interlocutor with La Liga. Despite the conflict brewing in the background between club and competition body, he enjoyed an excellent relationship with its president Javier Tebas.
In fact, both Alemany and Tebas were part of the same unsuccessful project that tried to win the Spanish Football Federation elections back in 2007.
Possibly Alemany’s best deal at Barcelona was the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He came to the Camp Nou on a free and scored 12 goals in 19 games before leaving to join Chelsea for €15m, eight months after his arrival.
The arrival on a free transfer of Andres Christensen will also be remembered as positive addition under his management, given the great return the former Blues defender has offered.
Some other of Alemany’s other signings, though, have not been as successful. The prime example is Ferran Torres, who joined from Manchester City for an initial fee of €55m in January 2022.
That level of investment was huge for Barcelona at that time, coming shortly after stating they had no money to extend Messi’s contract the previous summer.
Alemany pushed strongly to sign Torres, as he personally knew the forward from their shared time at Valencia. But the 23-year-old’s future at the club is now not guaranteed beyond next summer and Barcelona could listen to offers from elsewhere, as he his performances have not met expectations.
In a rather unusual situation, Alemany might well end up playing a role in any club decision on Torres, with Tuesday’s statement saying he would still nonetheless “complete Barcelona’s transfer business this summer, regardless of how late it is in the window”. Alemany and Barcelona will try to conclude all the deals they want to do as early as possible, but the club’s financial situation will not make that easy.
Villa are in the process of finalising their agreement with the Spaniard, who will join up with another familiar face at the Premier League club.
Damia Vidagany, the personal assistant of Villa head coach Unai Emery, worked with Alemany at Valencia and is understood to have been a key figure in bringing him to England.
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hero
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- May 23, 2015
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We don't have one. It seems, that our Chief scout is in charge for that role now. Hercules mentioned that he really pulled trees.
Impspur1
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- May 8, 2014
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He’s going to fit in well then
Snarfalicious
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- Jul 15, 2012
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Meh. I don’t know, he strikes me as an old guard type, and maybe not one that would embrace data and analytics like we had heard we were pivoting to. His eye for talent seems limited to more well-known players and/or ones in the twilight of their careers. So yeah, this is probably happening!
Trent Crimm
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- Jun 8, 2021
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spursfan77
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- Aug 13, 2005
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As soon as I saw him leaving Barcelona I knew the links to us wouldn’t be far off.
EQP
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funkycoldmedina
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- Jun 20, 2004
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I'm not sure that we will, I think we're waiting on Paratici. This feels like 1+1=3 because outwardly we don't have one and he's becoming available.
Reality is I think we have our structure in place but can't be public because of bans being served.
mpickard2087
Patient Zero
- Jun 13, 2008
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The article(s) posted already mention it, but he's not really a DOF. HIs background is as a high level executive, overseeing the whole operation with a little bit of dabbling in the football stuff.
Would be pretty strange to appoint him after also appointing Munn, unless Levy is really taking a back seat/putting another buffer layer in and Alemany became like the CEO.
Would be pretty strange to appoint him after also appointing Munn, unless Levy is really taking a back seat/putting another buffer layer in and Alemany became like the CEO.
Metalhead
But that's a debate for another thread.....
- Nov 24, 2013
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Who knows. We'll find out very quickly I guess. Does Paratici work well within the new 'data driven' system?
