Barcelona appoint new Head Scout as predecessor nears England return

Barcelona have wasted no time in locating a replacement for their departing head scout Paulo Araujo. The Blaugrana have turned to another former associate of Director of Football Deco to head up their talent-spotting operation.

Araujo, who was also relatively unknown before his spell at Barcelona, has decided to leave his role after three years. He was reportedly highly valued by the club, and is credited with modernising the scouting department. Barcelona have certainly been more aggressive in pursuing teenage prospects from abroad in recent years.

Joao Amaral appointed as new Head Scout

As per Sport, the new man in charge is 38-year-old Joao Amaral. He worked with Deco at his D20 agency, and most recently has been employed by Rio Ave in Portugal, as a Technical Director. Like Araujo, who had only been a scout at Burnley before taking on a role at Barcelona, Amaral’s position at Rio Ave was his first in that area of the game.

Given the short sample size, it is difficult to evaluate Amaral’s work at Rio Ave, but a number of his dealings were with the ‘Capital Group’, with multiple players arriving on loan or on transfers from Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest, who are both part of said group. Amaral and Barcelona have already agreed to terms. This represents another known quantity for Deco, who also knew Araujo from his work as an agent too, before recommending the Portuguese to Barcelona in 2022.

Video: Bardghji arriving in Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/Dwa8kOHChA

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The reason behind Paulo Araujo’s exit

The same outlet have also detailed that Araujo’s reason for departing the club is not related to his professional work, but rather he wants to be closer to his wife, who lives in Manchester. The word is that Araujo has a number of offers to join Premier League clubs this summer.