Barcelona officially ruled out the signing of Real Valladolid right-back Iván Fresneda this week after advancing in their negotiations to sign João Cancelo on loan from Manchester City, and one of the club’s key decision makers is not happy about it.
Diario SPORT reports that newly appointed sporting director Deco believes the club made a mistake in not focusing all of their efforts in securing the arrival of the 18-year-old Spanish youth international, and that Barça have missed out on their best opportunity to sign the player at a reasonable price.
Fresneda was Deco’s number one target at right-back, a position the executive saw as the one in most need of reinforcements as soon as he took the job at an unofficial capacity in July, and he spent the entire transfer window looking to convince Xavi Hernández that Fresneda was the best choice due to his potential and future projection.
But Xavi was keen on Cancelo as he wants a more experienced player who can contribute at a high level right away, and the coach stood his ground until Deco accepted his fate and ruled out a move for Fresneda.
Deco is convinced the youngster will become a star in the near future and his market value will “explode” very soon, making it virtually impossible for Barça to sign him in the club’s current financial situation, the report says. Time will tell if Deco is right about Fresneda, and whether Xavi’s gamble on Cancelo will pay off.
