RONALDINHO' SON SHOCKED EVERYONE at BARCELONA' TRAINING! What happened and how good is Joao Mendes?
Ronaldinho's son recently trained with Barcelona’s first team!
Here's João Mendes’ duel against Inigo Martinez - the defender's face is tense, because he's facing the son of the legendary Ronaldinho.
And then there's João vs Marcos Alonso - Ronaldinho Jr. has the ball in both situations, dominating his opponent!
Is it possible that the son of the Barcelona legend has made a progress so rapid, he is ALREADY allowed to train with the main roster?
Joao is now 19 years old and he has been under contract with Barcelona for more than a year - the guy has received quite high compliments and praise for obvious reasons. That said, the top talent has been off the radar since signing the contract last February and there was very little information available about him. Luckily, we did manage to make a video for our subscribers, which we will also leave a link to!
Throughout the year, Ronnie Jr. tried to find his place at Barcelona squad - he was an 18-year-old beast who was supposed to make a name for himself in the football world, but instead his development stalled and thus he first played in the Juvenil B team, but later earned a promotion to the Juvenil A. Juvenil A is La Masia's graduation team, which brings together the most talented U19 players from the club system. In other words, we will soon be able to congratulate João on another graduation in his life!
So, it was with Juvenil A that Ronaldinho's son was invited for a training session with the first team, as reported by the Catalans’ popular Twitter accounts, which added that Xavi was monitoring the boy closely.
"At 19 years old, the son of the Brazilian star currently dazzles with his dribbling at Barça's Juvenil B and earned the chance to train under the guidance of Xavi," the Argentine newspaper Diario Ole described the young man.
Some fans were delighted to see him in action: 'Excited to see Joao Mendes following in his fathers footsteps! Wishing him a successful journey ahead,' they wrote.
Large foreign media outlets, such as TNT Sports, also joined in: "Is there a place for the boy in Xavi's team?" the author of the post asks.
Interestingly enough, on March 21, it was Ronaldinho senior who celebrated his 44th birthday, making Joao's first training session with Barça's main men perhaps the best gift for his dad! Leave us a like if you're happy for Ronnie's son and wish the Wizard a happy birthday!
However, the reality turned out to be much harsher from the bravado about João's career breakthrough and his forthcoming debut for Barça's first team!
‘Barca first team today had a joint training session with some players from Barca Atletic and Juvenil side. Toni Fernandez, Oscar Gistau, Pocho Roman, Pau Prim, Andres Cuenca, Edu Sanchez, Brian Farinas, Tomas Marques, Alexis Olmedo, Manu Vila, Joao Mendes and few others were included’, Barca Buzz gives more details about this training session.
Indeed, EVERYONE WAS SHOCKED with Ronaldinho's son's appearance at Barcelona's main roster training session as the hype around the boy still lingers on, but we always tell our subscribers only the truth...
Espacio Masia, a specialized account dedicated to Barca Athletic and La Masia, revealed the truth about Ronaldinho Jr.'s current situation and that training session. Here is what they write:
"Let's calm things down right away:
1. Joao Mendes was not specifically at first-team training; it was the entire Juvenil A team that was training together with the first team.
2. Joao is unlikely to follow in his father Ronaldinho's footsteps.
He plays extremely little with Juvenil A. Originally a right-winger, he now plays as a left-back, coming on when it's already 3-0, for example. Unfortunately, he's not good enough, either in terms of technique or vision. He doesn't have the level of his partners.
His contract expires this summer."
Apparently, there are no plans to offer Ronaldinho's son a new contract.
Moreover, the fact that Joao got transferred to a new position implies that the Spanish club is looking for an optimal solution for the youngster, who hasn't been able to prove his worth as a right winger. On KZfaq, one can find clips of him performing in the left-back position, for example, during the match versus CD San Francisco. João looked pretty confident in this role, and maybe the coaches of the Barcelona academy just pointed out the direction in which the Brazilian should develop. Look how well he executes sliding tackles! Or how easily he neutralizes the threat in this episode! He just ate his opponent! And in this clip one can only envy his equanimity! Ronnie Jr also succeeded in displaying some dribbling, good passing, not to mention a superb diagonal!