Deco reveals why Vitor Roque’s Barçelona chapter closed so quickly

With a bit of distance, Deco talks about Vitor Roque without trying to rewrite history.

“From a quality standpoint, I don’t think we made a mistake,” Barcelona’s sporting director said, pointing out that the club’s idea was clear from the start: find a long-term successor to Robert Lewandowski before the clock became a problem.

The issue wasn’t the player’s profile so much as a total mismatch in timing, according to Deco. “He moved to a new country and joined a big club, facing significant pressure, and did not get enough playing time to properly adapt.”

A loan to Real Betis was meant to change the scenery and steady him. It never really did. Deco acknowledged that the spell “did not go as hoped,” and by the time Palmeiras came calling, the club saw a chance to step off the ride without dragging it out. “We decided that this would be the best solution for everyone,” he said, stressing that Barça were able to recover their investment rather than swallow a loss. To put the situation into perspective, he drew a parallel with another Brazilian teenager still finding his feet in Europe. “Look at Endrick: he is also going through challenges. This is normal for young players at a major European club.”

Back in Brazil and with Palmeiras, the tag of “future star” has been dropped in favor of something more useful: relevance. Look at his cameo against Atlético Mineiro. He was on the pitch for eight minutes before sniffing out an equalizer. It wasn’t exactly a masterpiece of a goal, but it flashed that same raw, vertical aggression that originally made Barça pull the trigger on his transfer.

With guys like Endrick, João Pedro, and Igor Thiago all jostling for the same few spots in the national team, Roque can’t afford to go quiet if he wants a seat on the plane to the FIFA World Cup. He’s still shaking off the rust from some nagging injuries, but the upward trend has already set the rumor mill spinning again.

Radio Tupi, a station in Brazil, is floating a €50 million price tag, and while Marca suggests Palmeiras would prefer to keep their house in order until the end of the season, some of the Premier League big hitters (Manchester United, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur) are already circling. They aren’t looking for a polished diamond; they’re looking for the high-ceiling project Barça gave up on.