Recently, Vitor Roque admitted that he had a very hard time during his first few months as a Barcelona player. Having joined from Athletico Paranaense in January, the teenager struggled to make his mark at the Catalan giants, and he has since been shipped out on loan to La Liga rivals Real Betis.
Barcelona sporting director Deco has spoken to MD about Roque’s recent remarks, and he admitted to being very annoyed by the coverage that the youngster received.
“He’s doing well, he’s scoring goals. Since I have known Barcelona I don’t remember such an ugly attack on a young player so it came from outside as with Vitor Roque. I don’t know where it came from, I don’t know if it’s an attack on me or the club, but I don’t think there was a personal attack on an 18-year-old boy that was so strong and so ugly. I mean evil, he was attacked very hard, without any sense, without any reason. We are now seeing with Endrick a normal process of an 18-19 year old player who arrives at Real Madrid going through a normal process.
“Vitor Roque has been hurt a lot and for me it has been very hard to see him suffer and see how he has gone, how he has had a bad time. It’s football. I’m 47 years old and I’m not used to certain things either… He had a very bad time. What I feel bad about is that I think the attacks on Vitor were not on him and I didn’t like it, the poor boy was not to blame for anything, for having been signed, for not liking whoever the sporting director, the coach or the president is… He has suffered a lot.
“I’m happy for him that he’s playing for Betis and he’s scoring goals and enjoying himself again. He’s a young man who has a lot of potential and he’s going to grow, but I don’t remember an attack like that.”
Deco was a leading player in bringing Roque to Barcelona, so he will be desperate for him to return to the club and become a success. For now, it remains to be seen whether that happens.