Legendary Deco gets a job at Barcelona

The press service of Barcelona has officially announced the appointment of Portuguese footballer Deco as the club's sporting director.

Deco will be responsible for defining the club's sporting philosophy, working with the coach to shape the team, and will also head the club's football section, as stated in the Catalan club's statement.

The Portuguese specialist will replace Mateu Alemany in this position, who plans to retire on September 2.

Deco, 45 years old, played for Barcelona from 2004 to 2008. During this period, he played 161 matches, scored 20 goals, and provided 45 assists. While at Barcelona, Deco became a two-time Spanish champion in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons, won the Spanish Super Cup in 2005 and 2006, and also won the Champions League in the 2005/06 season. He also played for Corinthians, Benfica, Alverca, Salgueiros, Porto, Chelsea, and Fluminense.

Deco was born in Brazil but later obtained Portuguese citizenship. He played 75 matches for the Portuguese national team, scored five goals, provided 19 assists, received eight yellow cards, and one red card.