"There are things we cannot talk about. We did things properly. We submitted an offer of €100 million, to be paid over three years, but we did not receive a reply. From that moment on, it was mainly discussed in the press."
Deco also revisited the contacts with Atlético Madrid, stressing the correct conduct shown by the Catalan club: "Jan has already explained that he spoke to them a few times, always respectfully. They told us they did not want to sell the player."
On the future of the Argentine forward, the Blaugrana director did not want to commit himself: "The future? Every moment must be assessed for what it is. There is a lot of tension in the press, but there is nothing else to add."
Deco also firmly denied that Barcelona put any pressure on the player to push him into publicly asking for a transfer: "We did not ask the player to say at the World Cup that he wanted to leave Atlético".