Barcelona sporting director Deco has insisted that the club do not intend to sign anyone during the January transfer window.
The Spanish champions strengthened with five signings over the summer, but due to their well-documented financial plight, Barca were only able to spend €3.4m on said players. That €3.4m was dished out to bring Oriol Romeu back to the club following a successful stint at Girona, while the other four signings consisted of two free transfers – Inigo Martinez and Ilkay Gundogan – and two loan deals – Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid and Joao Cancelo from Manchester City.
Despite said incomings, Barcelona’s performances have left a lot to be desired in recent weeks. A disappointing defeat to Real Madrid in El Clasico at the end of October was followed up by three extremely underwhelming performances prior to the international break.
While Barcelona won two of those games, the shock loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League and the toothlessness shown in front of goal by Xavi Hernandez’s side in narrow wins over Real Sociedad and Deportivo Alaves have led many to speculate about potential incomings to right the ship in January.
Speaking to SPORT however, sporting director Deco has confirmed that, other than Vitor Roque’s pre-agreed move to Barcelona, the club do not intend to make any signings during the upcoming transfer window.
“When the squad was drawn up, it was intended for the entire year. And that idea has not changed nor will it change regardless of fair play. I don’t think we can make any move in January regardless of what happens with Roque,” he said.
Barcelona forked out €40m to secure the signature of Roque, there has been rumours floating around that the club will not be able to register the forward’s contract as intended in January due to financial constraints – rumours that Deco failed to put to bed during his interview.
“There were some changes in La Liga and we have to see it. We have people in the club, financiers, people from La Liga, people who interpret the regulations depending on our situation. We will meet with all this and see how we can face this,” he added.
