Barcelona’s plan to integrate 18-year-old January arrival into the first-team plans – report

The arrival of Vitor Roque has given Barcelona fans an injection of enthusiasm, as they see the youngster as a solution to the goalscoring problems that have plagued the team in recent months.

The 18-year-old landed in Barcelona on Wednesday and will start training with his new teammates from tomorrow, with the view of making his debut against Las Palmas.

Given the Catalans’ lack of efficiency in front of goal in recent games, there is hope that the youngster’s arrival can help the team deal with those issues to an extent starting January.

Barcelona’s plan for Roque
But, as per Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are clear about the plan to follow with Roque so that his adaptation within the first-team setup is fruitful.

Barça do not want the 18-year-old to have the pressure of being a mainstay of Xavi’s team from the start of his time at the club and believe that he can learn a lot from Robert Lewandowski.

The Pole has been one of the best strikers in the world in recent years and Roque will be able to learn first-hand the tricks and skills of his new teammate to continue to develop his game. The presence of the veteran star in the squad will inevitably take pressure off the Brazilian.

As has happened with Lamine Yamal’s breakthrough into the first team, the Barcelona sporting department believe that there should be no rush to give Roque a chance and that he should gradually demonstrate his talent to grow into an important player.

The addition of the attacker should help to alleviate the problems of effectiveness. But Barça also hope that he can be a player who can provide good aerial play, speed in space and a great ability to press the ball out of the opponents’ defence.

Unlike Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo at Real Madrid, Roque will not have a stint with the reserve team at Barcelona, but will be in the first-team setup right away.

The Blaugrana want him to learn all about the club’s style of play and philosophy during the second half of the season. But he will have to meet some demands that are inevitable for any Barcelona player. However, the idea is to ensure that there is no unwarranted pressure on him.