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This article is part of Football FanCast's Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba's haircuts to League Two relegation battles...

Things are currently far from being rosy in the Catalan capital.

Even though Barcelona returned to their winning ways last week with a pair of victories over Villarreal and Getafe, their problems seem far from fixed.

At the moment, the atmosphere within the Blaugrana squad is still gloomy as some players are starting to lose trust in Ernesto Valverde and the upper hierarchy of the club will have to keep the team from falling apart.

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One of their still fresh solutions, however, seems to have been a failure as well.

Recently, Barcelona contacted their icon, Carles Puyol, in an attempt to lure him back as their new sporting director. And just the other day, they have received their answer - a resounding no.

Puyol, now aged 41, is a true legend of the Blaugrana, having risen from La Masia and playing a total of 594 games donning the shirt of the Catalan giant. He retired from professional football in the summer of 2014.

Needless to say, the Spaniard loves Barcelona and everything they represent and yet, he decided to decline their offer to return to the club of his youth.

Of course, the 41-year-old made an official statement on his Twitter account to explain his decision and claimed he turned it down due to having other personal projects on his hands.

While that does seem like a reasonable explanation, it's still really difficult to digest entirely.

Puyol even mentions how he desires to return to Barcelona and yet decided to pass on the opportunity when it was presented to him.

With the state the club is currently in - their form, hierarchy and with Valverde at the helm - could it be that Puyol simply doesn't trust the process and the current direction his beloved team is heading towards?

If we can take anything away from his statement then it's the fact the former defender hasn't ruled out the possibility of a big return in the future.

Is he just waiting for the situation to change just a tiny bit? It really wouldn't be a stretch to consider that option.

And if that's really his true reason, even though he would never admit it publicly, then this just might have been a big message to the current board and one that should sound all the alarms around the Camp Nou.

We'll have to wait and see how it actually affects the club moving forward.