FC Barcelona sign son of Ronaldinho (for the U19)

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João Mendes will play for FC Barcelona's U19s

Photo by Yang Lei/IMAGO/Xinhua

Spanish football giants FC Barcelona have signed 18-year-old João Mendes, son of former Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho.

The Catalans confirmed this on Thursday.

Mendes follows in the footsteps of his famous father, who played in Barcelona from 2003 to 2008 and was twice named world footballer during this time.

Mendes will initially appear for the club's U19s, having previously completed a trial with the Spanish leaders' youth team.

Most recently, he was without a club for almost six months after leaving the youth department of the Brazilian first division club Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte despite a long-term contract.

Nothing is known about the reasons for the early departure.

According to Brazilian media reports, Mendes has long concealed the fact that he is Ronaldinho's son.

The young footballer should be introduced to football without much media pressure and apparently also played in the youth department of Paris-Saint Germain, also a former club of his father.

His true identity only came to light after research by journalists.

Mendes has played for Barcelona before

Unlike his father, Mendes is left-footed and has so far mainly played as an attacker or hanging forward and not as a playmaker.

The 18-year-old has now achieved a certain level of fame on social media, for example he has almost 440,000 followers on Instagram.

Mendes made his debut for FC Barcelona two weeks ago in a friendly against Manchester United.

According to media reports, Mendes had problems keeping up with the high pace.

But he still got a contract.

His father was delighted that his son was now playing in Spain.

»Barcelona is part of my life.

Wherever I go, I take Barcelona with me.

With the arrival of my son at Barcelona, ​​I will be more present than ever,” Ronaldinho said in February when the move was hinted at.

Ronaldinho, 2002 world champion with Brazil, won the Champions League once and the league twice with the Catalans.

He was one of the most spectacular players of his time, but he also always attracted attention with his escapades.

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