Deco misses Barcelona tour to work on key squad sales

Barcelona Sporting Director Deco will not travel with the squad for their preseason tour of Japan and South Korea.

Hansi Flick and his squad have eventually flown out to Japan following a chaotic start to their preseason plans.

The defending La Liga champions had previously announced they would not be heading to Japan as they had not been paid by a key promoter for their friendly against Vissel Kobe.

This announcement was swiftly followed by a statement from promoter D-Drive, which accused Japanese subcontractor Yasuda of fraud and non-payment, and backed Barcelona’s legal action.

Barcelona had then been on the look out for a friendly on July 26 before traveling to South Korea with Flick reaching out to contacts in Germany.

Barcelona land in Japan for preseason tour

However, an 11th hour update – from Vice-President Rafa Yuste on Jijantes (via MD) – confirmed they would travel and face Vissel Kobe.

The key change focuses on Rakuten, former shirt sponsors of Barcelona, agreeing to pay the money missing from the original deal to ensure the friendly goes ahead.

However, Deco will remain in Barcelona, to complete a host of squad sales as per Diario AS.

Barcelona plan three sales before season start

Pau Victor is on course to complete a switch to Sporting Braga – after being left out of the travelling party – as Oriol Romeu weighs up offers from Girona and Valencia.

Andreas Christensen could be sold, if a suitable offer arrives, but there are doubts over letting Inaki Pena go following Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s latest injury setback.

Alongside Deco, VP Elena Fort will also stay in Barcelona, to continue negotiations with the City Council regarding the return to Spotify Camp Nou.

Barcelona are confident of hitting their return date of September 14, and that is the priority, but Fort is also planning for possible a continuation at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.