Barcelona signs Joao Mendes, the son of Brazilian legend Ronaldinho, who turned 18 on February 25.
Mendes successfully completed a trial with the club in January and has now officially joined the La Masia academy ranks. He started his youth career at Flamengo, then moved to Vasco de Gama and Boavista-RJ before impressing scouts at Cruzeiro and signing a six-year contract.
However, after three years with the Brazilian outfit, Mendes terminated the contract to pursue a trial with Barcelona.
Mendes hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps by achieving success with Barcelona. However, club president Joan Laporta has cautioned that the expectations on him will be high due to his father’s success.
Barcelona President Joan Laporta had this to say
“We have seen Joao play during his trials here at Barcelona and we are convinced that he can become a global superstar in the future just like his father”
“We don’t want to make him feel pressured at all, we want to track his progress and in due time, he will be able to make it into the first team”
Ronaldinho himself is excited about his son’s arrival at the club and has promised to spend more time around the team.