Xavi decision to bring Roque in January a 'mistake', says Barca sporting director

With the season over, Deco spoke to ‘Globoesporte’. The Barca sporting director gave an interview to the Brazilian media in which he referred, among other topics, to the failure of Vitor Roque's time at the Catalan team.

The Brazilian striker, signed in the summer of 2023 and on loan for a year at Athletico Paranaense, finally landed in Barcelona in January 2024. The manager assured that this was a "mistake" and blamed Xavi Hernandez, the former coach. 

"It was Xavi who asked for the striker to come in the winter market. We always take into account the opinion of the coach when making decisions and so Vitor's adaptation was brought forward, something that should have happened in the summer. It was a mistake, Barca demands a lot and he was too worried about what the press was saying."

"His first six months were not good. I also believe that the coaching staff and the club lacked attention when it came to identifying his problems, trying to help him adapt and even help him mentally", continued Deco about 'Tigrinho's difficult beginnings.

On the other hand, the director, who explained that the idea was that Vitor Roque would be Lewandowski's replacement, denied reports that the deal was for 30 million fixed plus 31 million in variables: "It's not as expensive as they say. The press always speculates. You have to take into account the value of the player, and in the end we recovered most of the investment".

The Brazilian player's path led him to Betis (on loan for the 2024-25 season) and then to Palmeiras. The Catalan side closed a sale to the ‘Verdao’ for 25.5 million plus 5 million in variables. "He went to Betis, a very demanding club, but then his agents decided to return to Brazil. We accepted him because the important thing is that he does well and finds himself again, he is a boy with enormous talent," Deco said.