'Sometimes you need to sell players' - Deco talks Barcelona transfers

""Our main idea is not to sell players, Barcelona is not a club that [likes to] do that," he told The Times. "But of course we need to improve in terms of that, because sometimes you need to sell players too. To sell young players, you need control. You need to pay attention to when their contracts finish. You need to make a plan for their future.""

""In terms of a sporting director, you need to look at what you have inside the club and then after you need to go to the market," he added. "When you have players like Lamine [Yamal], [Pau] Cubarsí, Gavi or [Alejandro] Balde, Marc Casadó is an important player for us now, you don't need to be in the market. You don't need to buy players.""

""People say to me, 'Because of the financial situation, Barcelona are using young players.' It's not true. We are using young players because they are good enough. If they are not good, it's impossible to play for Barcelona. We had luck in terms of the quality of this generation, because we then didn't need to go to the market in some positions. La Masia has helped us. But it has helped us because they are good players.""

Barcelona prefer not to sell players but accept that financial constraints may require sales. The club emphasizes careful management when moving young talent, tracking contract end dates and planning futures. Sporting directors should evaluate internal options before entering the transfer market. Current young players such as Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Gavi, Alejandro Balde and Marc Casadó reduce the need to buy immediate reinforcements. Barcelona uses academy graduates because they meet performance standards rather than solely because of budget limits. La Masia provided a strong generation that filled positional needs and lessened dependence on transfers.

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