{"id":258756,"date":"2026-08-20T11:27:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/20\/it-wasnt-part-of-our-plans-barcelona-chief-deco-opens-up-on-signing-rodri\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T11:27:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:27:48","slug":"it-wasnt-part-of-our-plans-barcelona-chief-deco-opens-up-on-signing-rodri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/20\/it-wasnt-part-of-our-plans-barcelona-chief-deco-opens-up-on-signing-rodri\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt wasn\u2019t part of our plans\u201d &#8211; Barcelona chief Deco opens up on signing Rodri"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5207015\" data-slug-id=\"2825099\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Barcelona&#8217;s sporting director Deco has opened up on the signing of Rodri this summer, explaining that it wasn&#8217;t part of the club&#8217;s initial plans but they made the move after seeing a real opportunity to sign the player.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/rodrigo-hernandez-cascante\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Rodri<\/a> finally completed his much-anticipated move to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/barcelona\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Barcelona<\/a> this week, signing a four-year deal that will keep him at the Spotify Camp Nou until the summer of 2030. The transfer cost the <em>Blaugrana<\/em> \u20ac60 million upfront, with an additional \u20ac15 million in add-ons, sending the total cost to \u20ac75 million.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>When asked about the decision to sign the player, Deco explained how the Catalan giants quickly moved to make the deal happen despite not having it in their plans initially.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It wasn\u2019t part of our plans,\u201d he said in quotes conveyed by <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/deco-confirms-barcelona-are-not-done-in-the-transfer-market-we-are-going-to-make-a-move\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Barca Universal<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re pleased. Before signing him, we talked and discussed it at length.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;At first it wasn\u2019t part of our plans, but we saw that it was an opportunity. He\u2019ll improve the team considerably.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Rodri was heavily linked with a move to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/real-madrid-cf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Real Madrid<\/a> this summer before Barcelona stepped in to declare their interest. Many believe that the <em>Blaugrana <\/em>intentionally did that to score a point over their bitter rivals but Deco insists that isn&#8217;t true.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We haven\u2019t snatched him from Madrid,\u201d the Portuguese stated emphatically.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Rodri was presented as a Barcelona player ahead of the Joan Gamper trophy clash with Egyptian club Al Ahly yesterday (August 19). The midfielder received a warm reception at the Spotify Camp Nou, with the <em>Blaugrana<\/em> faithful welcoming him with cheers and applause.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Barcelona set for 2026-27 LaLiga season<\/h2>\n<p>The Catalan giants rounded up their preseason campaign with a 2-1 victory over Al Ahly to lift the Joan Gamper trophy yesterday. Following that, they will now turn their attention to the new LaLiga season with all hands on deck.<\/p>\n<p>While the league kicked off last Saturday, the <em>Blaugrana<\/em> will have to wait till this weekend before returning to action due to a schedule change that gave extra rest to players who competed in the latter stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Barca will play their first game against Elche on Sunday, August 23. They will then take on Athletic Club four days later before going on to meet the likes of Rayo Vallecano, Valencia and Levante in their next three games. It remains to be seen if they can earn a perfect start to the campaign by winning all five fixtures.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Nived Zenith<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/football\/news-it-wasn-t-part-plans-barcelona-chief-deco-opens-signing-rodri\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barcelona&#8217;s sporting director Deco has opened up on the signing of Rodri this summer, explaining that it wasn&#8217;t part of the club&#8217;s initial plans but they made the move after seeing a real opportunity to sign the player. Rodri finally completed his much-anticipated move to Barcelona this week, signing a four-year deal that will keep [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":258757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-258756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}