Barcelona have not always made the smartest of decisions in the transfer market in recent times and one of the most contentious ones has been the situation of Vitor Roque. Six months since his move to the Spanish club, he has already been shipped out.
The club made the signing of Tigrinho official last summer after months of intense negotiation. The club considered him their answer to Real Madrid wonderkid Endrick and he was expected to take the reins from Robert Lewandowski in the longer run.
Deco & co. made this transfer at a time when the club was in immense financial difficulty. It was during a summer when all Barcelona could do in the market was sign Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez on free transfers and Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix on simple loan deals. The only player they spent some cash on was Oriol Romeu.
It’s worth noting that with the exception of Inigo, none of the other players are at the club any longer. Gundogan is back at City. The club decided not to make the signings of Cancelo and Felix permanent and Romeu is back at Girona on loan.
Roque on the other hand has been shipped out to Real Betis on loan. The 19-year-old forward was recently called up to Brazil U-20 duty where he scored a brace against Mexico in a performance that reminded everyone of his talent.
After the game, the Brazilian youngster couldn’t stop himself from seemingly taking a dig at Barcelona. As quoted by SPORT, here is what he had to say:
“I hadn’t laughed for six or seven months. I thanked everyone from the Brazilian team who was here for the week I was able to experience. It was a short period of time, but I made the most of it, I joked and enjoyed myself, which is the most important thing. And, when the game came, the goals came.”
Despite the player explicitly not mentioning Barcelona’s name, it is clear what he means by six or seven months. Roque’s time at the club has been a disaster but hitting out at the team that still owns you might not be a wise decision.
Roque could still have a future at Barcelona if he can prove his worth at Real Betis. The €30m-rated 19-year-old must focus on doing that rather than taking shots at the Catalan giants. Let’s see how his loan spell pans out and if he is considered a part of Hansi Flick’s project going forward.
