João Mendes is an 18-year-old Brazilian forward who is most notably known as the son of Brazilian legend Ronaldinho. João Mendes has been reported to have had a trial with Spanish side FC Barcelona and has officially signed with the Catalonia club.
Ronaldinho a couple of weeks ago confirmed in an interview that his son had conducted a trial with FC Barcelona and was certain Mendes would have a spot on the team. It is still unknown whether Mendes will be included in the first-team roster or begin in the development squads.
Although João Mendes has not been mainstream to the media, he has been playing soccer from a young age in Brazil for quite some time now. At the age of ten, he joined the academy of Flamengo, before playing indoor football for Vasco da Gama, followed by a short spell with Boavista-RJ. At the age of thirteen, he had a successful trial at Cruzeiro, where he hid the fact that his father was Ronaldinho from fellow trialists, as well as Cruzeiro staff. A year after joining, he signed his first professional contract with the club, a six-year deal, in 2019
In 2022 he left Cruzeiro and went on trial with FC Barcelona in 2023 after having been without a club for almost a year. In January 2023, reports came out that João Mendes did trial with FC Barcelona and is expected to sign with the club. Most likely, the young Brazilian will sign with the youth academy before making his way to the senior team or looking for a loan for more playing time.
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