Barcelona forward Vitor Roque has had a tough time of it since arriving in Europe, and became the focus of an unfortunate story during the final preseason friendly of their preseason tour in the USA.
Roque came on for the closing stages against AC Milan in a 2-2 draw, which the Rossoneri ended up winning 4-3 on penalties. The 19-year-old Brazilian forward scored his, but misses from Jules Kounde, Quim Junyent and Mikayil Faye ended Barcelona’s hopes. Sport claim that Roque did not want to take one of the penalties, but after coach Thiago Alcantara argued that he should, he did so. The pair can be seen speaking before the shootout, with Roque looking less than content.
After the match, his partner Dayana tweeted out that she was proud of her husband, and that he was ‘cold and calculated’ too.
It would not be the first time that spurious reports about Barcelona players who the club are keen to move on have emerged, and it is worth asking who and why this came out, if indeed it is the truth of the matter. Only the players around them, Roque and maybe one or two staff within earshot would have been aware of the content of his conversation with Thiago.
Either way, it is a rather minor issue, and without confirmation from other sources, it is worth wondering whether a similar report would have come out if Roque was not being linked with an exit.