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Barcelona's presidential candidate Agusti Benedito has openly conceded that he will ring up Sevilla's director of football, Monchi, if he manages to land the job.
According to Benedito, who has stood for the club's presidency a couple of times before, appointing Monchi will be the first thing he does to improve Barcelona's broken transfer system.
Benedito feels Monchi is among the top three sporting directors in the world. Although the former goalkeeper has spent most of his footballing career at Sevilla, his brief stint in Italy with AS Roma makes Benedito believe he will sign for Barcelona.
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Speaking to Goal, the presidential contestant lifted the lid on his ambitions, the recruitment of Monchi and Lionel Messi's situation.
He backed under-fire Ronald Koeman to succeed, while also heaping praise on Monchi.
"We met in 2015 several times with Koeman and he had strong ideas. I think he will open a spell that lasts several years at the helm. In terms of sporting direction, back then we bet on Monchi and we spoke to him, too. I still think he is in the top three in the world and would be a brilliant addition."
He also claimed that there will be a legitimate attempt to lure Monchi to Barcelona.
"Back then it seemed he would never leave Sevilla and then he went to Italy and came back. The first thing I will do if I am president will be to call Monchi and try to convince him."
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Agusti Benedito hopes to keep Lionel Messi at Barcelona
Barcelona have been on the receiving end of a few big transfer deals such as those of Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann.
While the two talented players have struggled to lay down a period of consistency, a list of clauses, big salaries and lack of returns on the field have resulted in more losses for Barcelona.
The club has endured a torrid time both on and off the pitch in 2020, with Lionel Messi also being vocal in his assessment of what's been going on around him.
The Argentine is not ready to pen a new deal at Barcelona yet and has been linked to English giants Manchester City in recent months. Perhaps, Benedito and Monchi's subsequent employment could help him change his mind to remain at Barcelona.
Monchi spent most of his career as a substitute goalkeeper but earned his name at Sevilla with his shrewd transfer strategies, scouting and deals that saw the club earn massive profits. Under his stewardship at the top of the hierarchy, the Spanish giants have won eight titles.
Meanwhile, there are rumours surrounding a return to Barcelona for Neymar, but Benedito stated that tying Messi down to a new deal must be the primary goal at present.
"I think this summer we will be more focused on convincing Messi to stay than on Neymar's return. In the summer he made some huge declarations where he said clearly that he wanted to go and asked the president to let him go and now we need him to change his mind."
Barcelona, who have notched up a run of five games without defeat since the 2-1 loss at Cadiz, will face off against SD Huesca on January 3.
