Barcelona chief reveals who pushed for Vitor Roque’s signing | OneFootball

Barcelona sporting director Deco has this week provided an insight into the leading figure behind the arrival of Vitor Roque at the club.

And it may come as something of a surprise…

Frontman Roque, of course, made the move to Catalunya’s capital in January of this year, from his home country of Brazil.

The youngster arrived in La Liga amid sky-high expectations, widely considered to be one of South American’s standout up-and-coming talents.

Safe to say, however, that things did not exactly work out as hoped for Roque.

After struggling badly for game-time under the watch of Xavi, the 19-year-old also failed to convince replacement Hansi Flick, culminating in Roque being farmed out on loan to Real Betis.

Amid the thick of his struggles in Barcelona, speculation mounted that Roque was not actually wanted by Xavi at the time of his arrival, with the Spaniard having a preference for players of a more technical nature.

This week, however, such claims have been put firmly to bed.

Speaking during an interview with Mundo Deportivo, Deco provided an insight into the developments which ultimately led to Roque’s arrival.

And the Blaugrana chief, amid as much, confirmed that it was Xavi who directly requested the Brazilian international’s signing:

”He was a player who was brought in because there was ‘fair play’ due to Gavi’s injury. He arrived in January because the coach asked for it with Gavi’s injury.”

Conor Laird – GSFN