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353 short minutes and 2 goals. This is Vitor Roque's assessment at FC Barcelona since its beginnings in January 2024. We are not talking about a player from team B of Barça who was able to have some opportunities in A, or a player with a discreet profile recruited to complete the workforce, but of an attacker who had cost 60 million euros (30 million fixed and 30 million bonus). An amount that had already been controversial at the time, first because of the sum fairly substantial for a young person for a club already stuck in the midst of a financial crisis, but also because according to the observers, Vitor Roque was not even really part of the best hopes of the Brazilian championship.
Even if these performances under the Blaugrana tunic are not necessarily catastrophic, it seemed to be obvious for many that he did not have the qualities to impose himself and become important in Barcelona. This loan in Betis this season also proves to us that even in a club with less competition, requirement and media pressure, it struggles to shine, with 7 goals in 24 games in all competitions. It must be said that in Barcelona, even Xavi, coach last season, wondered what Vitor Roque did in his workforce. “The goal was not to come in December. He is a player in training. There are players in front of him ”entrusted the Catalan tactician.
André Cury, the key man
André Cury, the player's agent, had it bad against the former Barcelona environment. “Vitor Roque must have more playing time, nobody understands why he has no more. Xavi never talked to the player, I don't understand this situation. With 300 minutes of play, he scored two goals, I will say that he is the top scorer of the team if we do the ratio with the minutes played. Xavi gave play time to Fermin Lopez, Cubarsi and Lamine Yamal, but not to Vitor Roque ”he launched in May. Comparisons that can make you smile when you see the level displayed since the Barcelona cited by Cury…
But let's go back to the question that everyone is asking: why has an FC Barcelona in the midst of a crisis spent so much money for a player with a rather limited potential? Well, this famous André Cury could well be the answer, he who has revised around Barça for years. The agent was even officially scout of Barça before the COVIR, but his relationship with the various clubs dates back to the 2000s. He had already managed to place several players at Barça at the time, the majority being chess, it must be said, like Henrique and Keirrison, recruited in 2008 and 2009 for 10 and 14 million euros respectively. We then quickly saw that they were far from the level of Barça. Same case subsequently for players like Douglas Pereira, Marlon Santos, Matheus Pereira or Emerson Royal. He also created a football school in Brazil in collaboration with the Catalan club.
Barça limits the breakage
Cury was also decisive for the arrival of Neymar in 2013… before being involved in his departure for Paris in 2017, and to bring Coutinho behind. As you can see, the proximity of Cury with the various directions in place at Barça – it is also very close to Deco – can awaken some suspicions on Operation Roque. In Catalonia, many explain that it is simply a service rendered to Cury, which has logically touched a beautiful commission in this operation. Over the years, Cury, which has had this double agent cap but also of Barça employees, therefore clearly filled his pockets with all the players he managed to place at Barça.
There are therefore obviously gray areas in this file, with interests that clearly exceed the sports framework. Anyway, with a sale that will quantify at 25 million euros, Barça limits the losses a little in this file. He is also curious, even surprising if we use an ironic tone, that Vitor Roque pursues his career on the side of Palmeiras. A club where André Cury has a lot of influence, and with whom Barça has carried out many operations including Keirrison or Yerry Mina since the 2000s, via the Traffic agency, notably which used the Brazilian agent, and which was tried for fraud in 2015. The fruit of chance …
