Madrid, May 3 (IANS): FC Barcelona have suffered a setback in their plans for next season with the news that the club's Director of Football, Mateu Alemany, will leave at the end of the current season.

The club released a statement late on Tuesday confirming the decision of Alemany, who has also worked with Mallorca and Valencia, a Xinhua report said.

"The FC Barcelona director of football, Mateu Alemany, will end his time at the club on June 30 to begin a new professional project," explains the Barca website, which assured that Alemany will "complete the summer transfer market with the club."

"Therefore, despite formally leaving the club on July 1, thanks to an informal agreement, Mateu Alemany has committed himself to completing the first team's transfer business this summer, even if it should be at the final moments of the transfer window," added the statement.

Alemany is widely considered to be responsible for helping the club's president, Joan Laporta, build a competitive squad this season, despite the restraints of La Liga's financial fair play regulations.

He said last week it would be an "interesting" summer, with Barca needing to cut a further 200 million euros from their wage bill, while at the same time attempting to bring Lionel Messi back to the club.