Sergio Conceicao, the manager of Porto, has come under fire for allegedly fabricating ties between Barcelona and himself in order to get his name in the window.

Conceicao was not given any consideration by the Barcelona club, according to the Catalan newspaper Sport, which disproved the notion that he was ever a contender for the open Barcelona position in the summer. Conceicao was or is still a contender, according to Portuguese sources, though.

He has already announced his exit from Porto this summer at the end of his contract, and is keen to look for a top job in Europe. The report continues on to say that he does not have the characteristics Barcelona seek in a manager, and that the connection between Barcelona Sporting Director Deco and his agent Jorge Mendes has been used in bad faith.

Deco previously worked under Mendes, and it would be somewhat surprising if Conceicao had decided to leak a potential interest from Barcelona himself, given this is the sort of work that agents generally do. Given Mendes’ links to the Blaugrana,  presumably, it is a name is able to use without fear of publicly being shot down.