The Ronaldinho saga will continue at Barcelona. The decision was made, confirmed by former Brazilian star and club president Joan Laporta: Joao Mendes de Assis Moreira will be a new Barça player, agreement is imminent after a positive trial for the Brazilian.
Joao is only 17 years old but will follow in the footsteps of his father, the legendary Ronaldinho who has remained in everyone's hearts at Barcelona and maintains an excellent relationship with his former team-mates and with president Joan Laporta.
This idea was born from a visit by Ronaldinho to Catalonia: a trial for his son Joao in Blaugrana, approved by the club and considered very positive for the Brazilian talent who dreamed of an opportunity in a top club like Barça.
Mendes had played for Cruzeiro in Brazil before terminating his contract with dreams of an opportunity in Europe, so he underwent a trial with Barcelona's U19 team in January trying not to attract too much medical attention to this story.
Ronaldinho’s son João Mendes (17) will play for Barcelona, confirmed 🔵🔴🇧🇷 #FCB
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 9, 2023
Joan Laporta: “We’re proud to continue the Ronaldinho ‘saga’. His son João will have a contract with us, he’s good — we still don't know if it will be with Juvenil B team”. pic.twitter.com/JVcnlQ81gh
The results have been judged positive by the Barça staff: Joao is a left-footed player who has been used as center forward in his young career, but also as a midfielder when Cruzeiro have experimented with different positions for him.
So after the discussions and the trial in Catalonia, Barcelona have decided to proceed to offer a contract to Joao Mendes.
Ronaldinho was informed by the club immediately, while president Joan Laporta announced the decision in a press conference because "there is a will to continue the Ronaldinho saga here at Barça".
It is still to be decided which team Joao Mendes will join, probably to Barcelona's Juvenil B to give him time to start a journey with the Academy team before being able to dream of the "real" Barça shirt.
Certainly, Mendes dreams of following the footsteps of his father, who spent five years with Barcelona from 2003 to 2008 becoming one of the many legends of the club.
Ronaldinho led the club to two La Liga titles and one Champions League title during that time, winning the 2005 Ballon d'Or, scoring 70 goals with 38 assists in 145 league matches.
The relationship between president Laporta and Ronaldinho was obviously a crucial part of this story: the Brazilian is in fact Club Ambassador of Barcelona, he is often invited to represent the club due to his excellent past in blaugrana but now it will all be up to his son Joao Mendes to conquer a future as a star.
Internally, everyone at Barcelona says that "the pressure on this boy will be enormous" so they will try to keep him isolated and calm from the media for a healthy long-term development. To dream of another magical Ronaldinho fairy tale in Catalonia...
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
