Vitor Roque's agent lashes out at Xavi AGAIN after Barcelona exit

Tom Weber

Updated: 31 May 2024 15:26 BST
3 min read

Vitor Roque, Barcelona, 2023/24 — © IMAGO

Vitor Roque's agent has once again hit out at former Barcelona boss Xavi.

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The Brazilian wonderkid arrived at Barcelona in January after the club had managed to strike a deal in the summer transfer window. The initial plan upon confirmation of the deal at the start of the season was for Roque to join the club in the summer of 2024.

However, Barcelona's unimpressive results and Robert Lewandowski's bad form at the time saw sporting director Deco and president Joan Laporta bring Roque's move forward. After arriving, the 19-year-old initially featured a fair bit.

However, after Lewandowski regained his form, Roque was increasingly left to rot on the bench, with voices growing louder that head coach Xavi had actually not wanted the Brazilian. This was essentially confirmed by his agent Andre Cury in early May and he even claimed that the youngster would consider his options in the summer unless the situation improved.

Now, Xavi has been sacked, with the Roque drama one of the big reasons behind him getting the boot, but his agent evidently still has a bone to pick with the 44-year-old.

Agent hits out again

Xavi previously defended his decision to ignore Roque by saying that he was simply too young and not yet ready to consistently feature for the Blaugrana, also drawing attention to the original plan of him only arriving this summer.

However, according to Cury, this is simply not the truth. In fact, he claims that Barcelona and Xavi had already wanted to bring in Roque last summer, not in the winter or this upcoming transfer window.

"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," he told MARCA. "Honestly, Xavi called him personally. Vitor Roque expected more minutes with Xavi. Now, with the new coach he is starting from scratch."

It is unclear whether new boss Hansi Flick rates Roque, but the comments from Cury suggest that the Brazilian wonderkid won't push for a move this summer unless the German makes it clear that he is not wanted.