Barcelona Director of Football Deco has criticized Dro Fernandez for his exit from the club, after completing a move to Paris Saint-Germain this week. Not showing any anger towards PSG, who sneaked in the gift of their star, Dro focused on his ‘disappointment’.
It is reported that manager Hansi Flick was furious when he found out that Dro had decided to leave the team. A deal was agreed earlier this week with PSG for €8.5m, on top of his €6m release clause, and after his arrival, Dro declared it ‘the best place to improve’. Something that doesn’t seem to have gone down well with Deco.
‘Disappointment is caused by…’ – Deco
Ahead of Barcelona’s clash with Copenhagen on Wednesday night, Deco explained how Dro’s exit came about, and why the club were not too happy about it.
“Dro was a boy who turned 16 in January 2024, and in March he signed his first professional contract. During this time, he came to train with us two or three times. We don’t care who the agent is, but rather the profile of the player. At the beginning of last season, he came to train with the first team, Flick liked him, and although there were a few players, Droking took his place in that situation. The release clause of 6 million euros, like many players who sign their first contract, and all I could do was explain to him the vision we had for him and the conditions under which he could develop here.”
“The coach helped, found him in training, and took him before the season. Disappointment is part of that. With due respect to PSG, which is an amazing team and where I have friends, like Luis Campos,” Deco told TNT Sports Brasil, as quoted by MD.
‘Sometimes form and people are not right’
Deco went on to explain that he would not have done the same to his shoes, and the way it was handled was wrong.
“If I was young and I was in Barcelona, I wouldn’t change, but everyone chooses their own path. We all know that there are influences; we don’t know if it was done by his parents, but his decision, not financial. We reached an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain because of our good relationship, but Paris Saint-Germain has no influence on this decision.
🚨 Yesterday, Marc Bernal played his much-needed minutes since coming back from injury, and he showed good quality. Hansi Flick was very clear that he wants to continue this month, but he still thinks that Bernal needs to surpass the physical level to tie… pic.twitter.com/Bg5L1KtjQD
– barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 29, 2026
“I hope he is happy and develops as a player, although he should not be too fast, either here or at Paris Saint-Germain, it can be dangerous. Sometimes the form and the people involved are not good.”
“There’s no need to make a drama about it, he was part of a strong first team, like the other players, he made that decision and that’s it.”
Dr Fernandez’s thinking
The reasons given by Dro for deciding to take this decision is that he felt he had no chance of taking Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo into the first team. In addition, PSG manager Luis Enrique went to Barcelona to convince him to take action, an important action. Having said that, Gavi who played with him is reported to be disappointed with the staff for not giving Dro more opportunities this season.
