The name doesn’t give anything away and that’s why the news didn’t seem particularly interesting at first glance: FC Barcelona have signed 18-year-old Brazilian João Mendes for the U-19 team. It only becomes more interesting at second glance: Mendes is the son of former Barça star Ronaldinho (42). He follows in the footsteps of his famous father, who scored 71 goals in 145 games for the Catalans from 2003 to 2008 and was world champion with Brazil in 2002.
His son trained and played in his home country at Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte from the age of 14 until the end of last year. He can be used both as a striker and as a midfielder, as the newspaper “Mundo Deportivo” wrote on Thursday. He is quite experienced for his age, shoots with his right foot, but is also skilled with his left foot. The contract initially runs until the end of June 2024.
Ronaldinho once shaped the era before Lionel Messi at the Catalans. During this period, Ronaldinho was twice voted World Player of the Year and won two league titles (2004 and 2005) and the Champions League (2006). In 2002 Ronaldinho became world champion with Brazil.
