Vitor Roque (Timoteo, 2005) was very surprised that more than 5,000 fans went to the Johan Cruyff Stadium on Saturday to say goodbye to the year and celebrate its arrival in the traditional open-door training session. The Brazilian did not expect so much media expectation. His first days with the team led by Xavi Hernández are full of very positive impacts. He is happy with the group and little by little he discovers his new city.
The young 18-year-old forward landed in Barcelona on December 27. Accompanied by his parents, Juvenal Ferreira and Hercilia Roque, and also by his wife, Dayana, whom he married in Brazil at the end of October, he went to the Sofia Hotel, his temporary home until he finds his definitive residence. The three family members witnessed the first hours of the Brazilian forward dressed in Blaugrana.
In these first days of adaptation, they are accompanied by Joel González, head of the FC Barcelona Player Services Office. The first thing Vitor Roque did was leave his suitcases and go at noon to the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in Sant Joan Despí, where he underwent the medical examination. He also took the opportunity to visit Camp Tito Vilanova. He posed sitting in the stands and discovered that his locker is next to that of Robert Lewandowski, one of his references. In the afternoon, now calmer, he discovered Barcelona's Paseo Marítimo with his family and had dinner at the Italian restaurant Murivecchi, next to the Ciutadella Park. He is a great lover of Italian cuisine.
The next day he had his first contact with the squad and coaching staff. He does not yet have a driving license, so the drivers hired by the club are responsible for his trips to the entity's facilities. “The first thing he did was meet with Xavi, who welcomed him. They had never met before, they had only spoken on the phone before. The first contact was very good,” say sources from the coaching staff. Vitor Roque does not speak Spanish but he does understand it. In his adaptation he is being helped above all by Raphinha, who helps him understand the guidelines. The Portuguese João Félix and João Cancelo also collaborate, as well as captain Ronald Araújo, who has a Portuguese family and is fluent in the language. Araújo has been very close to the Brazilian in his first three training sessions with the group.
Vitor Roque was not spared from the round of presentations. He was helped by the delegate Carles Naval with the presence of Toni Alonso, who came up from Barça Atlètic to lend a hand to Naval. “He conveyed a lot of enthusiasm and desire. Despite arriving from his honeymoon, he looks fit but must continue to adapt to the dynamics of the team,” they explain from the offices of the sports city. Xavi thinks that he will now be included in the call to travel to Las Palmas on January 4. The goal is for you to enjoy the group dynamics. It is expected that he will make his debut in Barbastro in the Copa del Rey on January 7.
Beyond the three training sessions held, Vitor Roque's agenda is full of publicity commitments. “They have taken measures for him to wear the official first team suits and clothing. He has also updated himself with the photos that appear in the League's archives and has attended to other commitments with the club's sponsors, including Spotify,” the club points out. In these last appointments he has been accompanied by his agents Ehler Pessoa and Sandro Duarte. Both work with André Cury, the representative who has led the entire negotiation so that Roque ends up with the Blaugrana for 30 million fixed and another 31 in easily compliant variables. Cury will be at the Brazilian's grand debut tomorrow when he will be presented to the media at noon.
