Behind the scenes of the Laporta and Mendes meeting: will the Barcelona star move to Liverpool?

Jorge Mendes, the agent of a number of Barcelona players, held a meeting with Joan Laporta, the president of the Catalan club, to discuss some matters relating to the team.

According to the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", citing sources close to Barcelona, the talks had nothing to do with the coming transfer windows, arriving just days after the summer window slammed shut.

Joao Cancelo sealed his permanent move to Barcelona over three seasons in late August. The last piece of business after that was midfielder Marc Casado's loan departure to Deportivo La Coruna until the end of the current season.

Left-back Alejandro Balde, a graduate of the club's academy, is attracting plenty of attention right now given his reduced role under Hansi Flick, and he is also one of the players Mendes represents. Yet despite the swirl of reports linking him with Liverpool, no moves are expected at present.

The next window is still several months away, so this meeting between the club and the agent was never going to touch on any hypotheticals. Should the need arise, there will be time to look into them later.

Mendes' most prominent player at Barcelona, though, is Lamine Yamal, with 42 days remaining until the announcement of the 2026 Ballon d'Or winner.

What's certain, and plainly stated, is that Barcelona have thrown their official weight behind the nomination of the player who wears the number 10 shirt for the "France Football" award.

Club president Joan Laporta, coach Hansi Flick, sporting director Deco and vice-president Rafael Yuste all declared that support one after another.

Barcelona's leading figures rallied behind the world star and La Masia graduate once his place among the 30 Ballon d'Or candidates was confirmed, a list that surprisingly left out both Raphinha Dias and Pedri Gonzalez.

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