Barcelona have placed faith genetics with their latest youth signing. The club have announced that 17-year-old Joao Mendes will join La Masia at the Juvenil stage of their academy.
More commonly known for being Ronaldinho’s son, he has been on trial with the club of late, playing for the under-19s. Mendes was in the Paris Saint-Germain academy for a time, before joining Flamengo while his father was playing there. More recently he was at Cruzeiro, but was released by the Brazilian side.
Mendes is a left-footed forward, supposedly adept with his passing and with an eye for goal, although far less free-flowing than his famous father. Few people are not.
If Mendes can show some of the talent that Ronaldinho did in the Blaugrana, then it will work out as a highly profitable signing for Barcelona. Ronaldinho is currently an ambassador for Barcelona, and has commented that he will be around much more often with the prospect of watching his son.
