Deco lifts lid on why Barcelona signed Anthony Gordon over Marcus Rashford
Barcelona sporting director Deco has revealed why the club decided to sign Anthony Gordon over Marcus Rashford this summer.
The Catalans held an option to make Rashford’s loan move from Manchester United permanent for just £26m after the 28-year-old got 14 goals and 15 assists in all competitions.
But instead they opted to pay Newcastle £69m for the services of Gordon, who’s hit the ground running at the Nou Camp.
He’s got five assists in his opening four La Liga games and has been well received by the fans, who chanted his name during the 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano.
Still, it came as a surprise to many that Barcelona offered up quite so much cash to sign him, and Deco has explained their decision to sign him over his international teammate.
“We are extremely grateful to Rashford,” Deco said in an interview with RAC1 on Thursday.
“He contributed a lot last season, but our idea of play is much more linked to Anthony. His style fits with what the coach [Hansi Flick] is looking for.
“We see every training session and analyse the team. We have a clear idea what we’re looking for. One of the areas we struggled last season, without Raphinha, was that the team’s energy dropped. It was lost.
“We needed more intensity. We analysed a lot of wingers. Signing someone from the Premier League is almost impossible, but [Flick] was clear with what he wanted and we worked on a deal from there.”
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Gordon was one of six Barcelona signings, along with Rodri (Manchester City), João Cancelo (Al Hilal), Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund), Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal) and Dominik Livaković (Fenerbahce).
They were also keen on Bernardo Silva, who ended up at arch rivals Real Madrid, and Deco has revealed why they failed to agree terms with the Portugal international.
“He wasn’t what we were looking for in the end,” Deco explained. “I love him. He’s one of the best in the world in his position.
“He wanted to come to Barça, but things didn’t move forward because we have certain parameters. It wasn’t just a financial issue, it was also about playing time.
“It’s not up to me to say if he is going to play or not, that’s the coach’s decision. But he had a different perception to us after playing [regularly] at City. He wanted to play.”
