Barcelona chief Deco holds meeting with agent of La Liga’s leading assist maker | OneFootball

Barcelona sporting director Deco this week sat down for a meeting with the representative of a headline member of the attacking ranks at Villarreal.

That’s according to Jijantes, as cited by Diario Sport, who point towards Álex Baena as being the player in question.

Baena, for his part, has proven himself one of the standout performers across all of Spanish football thus far this season.

A haul of three assists during a recent meeting with Rayo Vallecano saw the 22-year-old take his tally to a La Liga-leading 12, alongside a further four assists in the Europa League.

Such exploits have not gone at all unnoticed across La Liga, with a number of clubs understood to be sniffing around Baena’s signature with a view to next season.

In turn, it will no doubt mark an interesting development for those of a Barcelona persuasion to hear that, this week, a leading member of their side’s board sat down for a meeting with the agents of the Villarreal standout.

As per the aforementioned Jijantes, Deco enjoyed a meal with Joshua Barnett, head of the CAA Stellar company.

Barnett represents not only Baena, but also the likes of Villarreal teammate Yeremy Pino and Atlético Madrid star Pablo Barrios, as well as Blaugrana talents Fermín López and Diego Kochen.

The sit-down at hand, though, is understood to have centered on discussions surrounding a potential deal for Baena.

As much comes with Xavi desperate to add a new ‘interior’ to his ranks, and the Spanish international having long been held in high regard by Barcelona’s headmaster.

It now remains to be seen whether the the Catalans’ long-standing financial constraints prevent a deal from coming to fruition…

Conor Laird | GSFN