The agent of FC Barcelona attacker Vitor Roque has hit out at former head coach Xavi amid reports linking him with a move to Manchester United.
The 19-year-old signed for the La Liga giants from Brazilian outfit Athletico Paranaense during the 2023 summer transfer window and linked up with their squad at the start of January.
“It is not true…”
Roque endured a rough few months at the end of the 2023/24 campaign as he only made two La Liga starts for Barcelona.
His lack of appearances have fuelled reports linking him with a move away from Barcelona. It’s been suggested that he could be included in a swap deal for Mason Greenwood with Man Utd.
Earlier this month, Roque’s agent – Andre Cury – insisted his client “has to have more minutes” and recently departed head coach Xavi has opted against allowing him more opportunities to shine.
“I think Vitor Roque has to have more minutes,” Cury said.
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“Nobody understands why they’re not giving him that. Xavi has never spoken to the player, I don’t understand it.
“[Roque] has to work and work harder, and wait for the opportunities, but I believe there were already many, many games in which those minutes could have been given, so we wouldn’t need to be talking about this issue today.
“He is very strong mentally and physically, and has a bit of enthusiasm to show that because in the club and the press there is a lot of nonsense being talked about.
“Bad figures who are saying things that are not true. All of this does not help. Look what happened with Vinicius [Junior] at Real Madrid, it took him two seasons to play. Here in Barcelona, a mess has been created in two months. People want to kill, not help.”
Xavi has since suggested that he did not want Roque to join Barcelona until this summer, but this claim has been refuted by Cury.
“It is not true that Xavi wanted the player for December. He wanted him even before, for July, but they did not let him come,” Cury said.
“Honestly, Xavi called him personally.”
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Cury has also encouraged new Barcelona boss Flick to show patience with Roque while comparing the youngster to Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior, who “took two years to adapt”.
“Vitor Roque expected more minutes with Xavi. Now, with the new coach he is starting from scratch,” Cury continued.
“In front of him [Flick], he has a world-class player like [Robert] Lewandowski. Vini, for example, took two years to adapt.”