Deco believes Barcelona are making a mistake by not signing €15 million-rated teenager

As Barcelona inch closer to the capture of Joao Cancelo on loan from Manchester City, the door appears to be shutting on their pursuit of another right-back in Ivan Fresneda.

Indeed, the Blaugrana are on the cusp of finalising a loan-to-buy agreement for the Portuguese international, with the signing expected to be made official this week.

And, as such, they have informed Fresneda that they will not be signing him, despite the Real Valladolid youngster already agreeing personal terms with the club.

Deco believes not signing Fresneda a big mistake

Now, SPORT is reporting that new sporting director Deco believes that Barcelona are making a mistake by not signing Fresneda, whose market value stands at 815 million, this summer.

The former midfielder made the signing of a new right-back a total priority upon arriving at the club this summer and has since been pushing the name of Fresneda.

Deco is of the opinion that the 18-year-old is the right profile for the club and can be a long-term solution for the Catalans’ right-back problems.

However, manager Xavi Hernandez was keen on bringing in a more experienced player for the right-back slot.

And despite Deco’s urging and the club scouts’ good reports on Fresneda, the manager insisted on going for Cancelo, that is after Mateu Alemany failed in his attempt to sign Juan Foyth from Villarreal.

Due to Xavi’s insistence, the sporting director agreed to try to sign Cancelo and began talks with his agent, Jorge Mendes, but made it clear that the deal must be completed in a fixed timeline as the Catalans were not going to wait.

But the super-agent delivered as promised, helping finalise an agreement with Man City and convincing the player to take a big pay cut.

As a result, Cancelo is now on the verge of joining Barcelona while Fresneda could end up at Chelsea, from where he is likely to be loaned out.

Deco, though, believes that it is a mistake from the Blaugrana and that Fresneda’s value will skyrocket in the future, making it difficult for them to sign him in the years to come.

Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.