Barcelona manager Hansi Flick expresses delight with Deco

Barcelona have been very busy this week, both on and off the pitch. They still cannot sign anyone, but key renewals have been finalised (or are close to being finalised) by sporting director Deco.

On Thursday, Barcelona announced that Ronald Araujo had signed a new five-year contract, and less than 24 hours later, young left-back Gerard Martin also penned a deal until 2028. Furthermore, the club are hopeful of finalising agreements with Pedri and Gavi in the coming weeks.

Flick has not been involved in these processes, but he has been delighted with the work done, as he told his press conference on Saturday (via MD).

“The club and Deco’s work is great. They are looking for players but it is important to work with what is in the squad. I like how Deco is doing it.”

Flick also spoke specifically on Araujo, whom he confirmed will be a very important player for Barcelona going forward.

“I spoke a lot with Ronald and the important thing is that he is fit, that he goes further. I’m focused on him and he’ll get better for sure. Bielsa will have a great centre-back under his orders in the Uruguayan national team.”

Flick also provided an update on Andreas Christensen, who has been linked with an exit this month. The Danish defender has yet to feature since returning from a five-month injury lay-off earlier in January.

“Naturally, I talk to Andreas. He came from a serious injury and is doing very well in training, although there are players ahead of him right now. We know their quality and we’ll see what happens.”

Christensen could feature for Barcelona in Sunday’s match against Valencia, with Flick having hinted that changes will be made to freshen up his side. However, the German manager must be mindful that he cannot afford to play a weakened team, given that the Catalans are significantly trailing Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the La Liga title race.