Barcelona selling former untouchable

Barcelona have put Premiership clubs Chelsea and Liverpool on alert that once untouchable midfielder Deco will be sold this summer.

The news comes as the emerging consensus within the club feel Barcelona need an overhaul as questions of the level of commitment have been raised by club president Joan Laporta. A third successive league title slipped from Barca’s hands as they led La Liga at the halfway point of the season.

Only six months ago Deco was viewed as a key member of the team and any offer would have been rejected, no longer. Laporta said certain players were staying including Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o, but the list notably lacked Deco. A Catalan paper said Deco was given a warning mid-season about his performances and they did not improve. An unnamed source claims Deco will be sold as a warning to the rest of the squad to reinvest their energies into the club or risk the same fate.

Sensing the shifting tide, last week Deco mentioned a desire to play in the Premiership and remains close to Jose Mourinho, his former manager at FC Porto. Chelsea and Liverpool are said to be keenly interested in signing the influential playmaker. Both Rafa Benitez and Mourinho are great admirers of the player’s talent and could get the Brazilian born, Portuguese international at a cut rate price.