The disappearance of Vitor Roque gets people talking in Barcelona

It’s an arrival that raised a lot of hopes a few weeks ago, and his first steps under the Blaugrana tunic were rather encouraging. The 19-year-old Brazilian striker was even presented, by many, as a real threat to an increasingly criticized Robert Lewandowski. For example, he had scored two matches in a row, against Osasuna and Alavés at the end of January – beginning of February. Enough to convince Xavi to give him a fairly important role in the rotation?

Not really. The former Athletico Paranaense player, for example, did not play a single minute in the double confrontation against Naples. His last and only start dates back to one less, against Celta in La Liga, and he also did not take part in the clash against Athletic in La Liga. He only played 40 minutes in the last 5 matches of the Catalan team and in total, he only played 226 minutes out of 1350 possible as reported Sport. Difficult to understand such ostracism, at a time when Barça is far from being incredible up front.

How to use it ?

He is, by far, the least used winter signing of the Xavi era, well behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Dani Alves, Adama Traoré and Ferran Torres. “Vitor comes from an injury situation, adapting, getting into the rhythm of the competition and the game. Lewandowski is used to playing as a nine, so it was difficult for Vitor to play in his position . He’s a young player and he adapted well to the winger position, going inside and taking advantage of spaces, he came off the bench and he made the difference for us. It is only a matter of time and he can give us many things. In fact, he’s already giving it to us.”Xavi recently justified.

The question of its positioning is therefore on the table. Should he play up front or on one side? Xavi will therefore have to decide. Is the tactician preserving the Brazilian nugget so as not to burn it? This is also one of the explanations put forward in the Catalan media. At the same time, some bad tongues go so far as to say that it is a matter of bonuses and commissions, since additional checks would have to be paid to the player’s agents in the event that he competes for a certain number of minutes. One thing is certain, FC Barcelona fans would like to see him at work more often…