Xavi sends public message to Barcelona starlet Vitor Roque | OneFootball

Barcelona head coach Xavi has forwarded a message of advice to struggling young attacker Vitor Roque.

As much comes fresh off another evening to forget for Roque on Monday.

En route to Barcelona’s 2-0 La Liga downing of Real Sociedad, the Brazilian international, once more, found himself glued to the bench for the entirety of the 90 minutes.

This comes amid what has proven a tumultuous week or so for Roque, across which he has been hotly tipped for a swift summer departure from Catalunya’s capital.

Drawn on the lack of minutes afforded to the January addition to his squad during his post-match press conference on Monday night, boss Xavi revealed that Roque was in fact struggling for fitness:

“He hurt his ankle yesterday. That’s why he didn’t even warm up.”

From here, though, the Blaugrana’s headmaster also made use of the opportunity to send some public advice to his out-of-favour striker.

Urging Roque to ‘improve’ elements of his game, Xavi explained:

“Vitor Roque? At Barça, there is competition. He’s a young footballer and he needs to improve to compete against very high-level footballers.”

Conor Laird | GSFN