In December, Barca boss Flick was open to the idea of the club needing defensive reinforcements in light of Andreas Christensen's knee injury. While Ronald Araujo is now back from his break in a bid to improve his mental health, the German still wanted more backup.
"Defender in the January transfer window? We’ll see. I’ll talk to Deco, maybe tomorrow, not today. For me, first and foremost, the important thing is that Andreas (Christensen) returns in good shape," he said.
Then, at the start of January, when the severity of Christensen's injury came to light, he sent a crystal clear message to the board.
He added: "I spoke with my staff, and with Deco we speak a lot. And we think that when Ronald [Araujo] is back we have good alternatives at centre-back. Joao can play on both sides, he can give us good options. But in the end, until now, it's not done, but I'd be happy if it goes through. He's another option for the offence. We talked about signing a centre-back, but I think it makes more sense, I think it is a good option, and a high quality player.
"We've had a situation these past two years where we have to be smart about the players we sign. It's not like the other clubs, who can play hundreds of millions on players. But I think it's good, you can see our players are progressing. Our young players are developing, and we have faith in them. Now we have the opportunity to bring in a veteran. I'd appreciate it if he comes."
Sure enough, Barca delivered, this time with the loan deal of full-back Joao Cancelo from Al-Hilal.