It’s very rare that a manager will have full control over transfers in the modern era, but it’s not a good look if they aren’t on the same page as the board.
Football Italia have reported on the latest situation with Barcelona midfielder Arthur Melo, and they confirm that he’s close to moving to Juventus.
That deal would see Miralem Pjanic move to Barcelona in return, but it sounds like Quique Setien doesn’t want his player to go.
READ MORE: Predicted Barcelona XI for next season – Why the fans should be very fearful for the future
The highlight some of his quotes in a recent press conference, and these are not the words of a manager who sounds happy with what’s going on:
“As it stands, I still have Arthur. He’s an important player like everyone else in the squad and we’ll need him. As it stands, he’ll train and travel with us, and he could play tomorrow.”
“The club hasn’t told me that he’s been sold, but the situation is extremely unusual. It’s a situation that has affected us and I hope there will be maximum honesty and professionalism from all my players until the end of the season.”
It’s really not clear if this move is going to go through, but it really does confirm that Setien is simply seen as a placeholder and won’t be the long term manager at the club.
If the board trusted him to lead the team into the future then they would consult with him, but this looks like a further desperate attempt to mortgage their future to give Messi a good team before he retires, and it could come back to haunt them in a few years.