Getty Barcelona have signed Roman Vega.
Barcelona announced on Thursday, September 22 that 18-year-old left-back Roman Vega has joined the club from Argentinos Juniors after passing a medical with the Catalan giants.
Vega will initially link up with Barcelona Atletic and has been handed the No. 12 shirt for the 2022-23 season. The defender will train with his new teammates for the first time on Friday.
Barcelona have confirmed the defender has signed on a season-long loan with an option to buy. Vega has already worked with two former Barcelona stars during his fledgling career.
The defender has played under Javier Mascherano for Argentina’s Under-20 side and also worked with former defender Gaby Milito in the first team of former club Argentino Juniors.
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Vega Talks Dream Move
Vega has spoken about how he’s realized a dream by moving to the Camp Nou to join Barcelona. The teenager told Barca TV that he can’t quite believe that he is now a Barcelona player.
He explained, “It’s crazy that I’m living this dream, I don’t want to wake up anymore; the wait was long, but I’m here.”
Vega will play under Barca Atletic coach Rafa Marquez and will hope he can catch Xavi’s eye and earn some first-team opportunities. However, the first-team coach does have plenty of options at left-back this season.
Xavi has Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso and Alejandro Balde to choose from and is currently favoring the 19-year-old La Masia graduate. Balde has emerged as first choice this season has come in for huge praise from Xavi who has admitted he’s been amazed by his performances.
Marquez Talks Barca Atletic
Barca Atletic coach Marquez has opened up on life back at the club after returning for a second stint. The Mexican has told Mundo Deportivo that he has been surprised by some of his young players already.
“When you arrive at a team like Barcelona you know that the players will have quality, but what has surprised me is the predisposition to work day by day,” he said. “The intensity they have shown from the first day until today. And that will be the difficult thing to maintain.”
Marquez also admitted that he could be tempted to take over the first team at some point in the future if the opportunity were to arise.
“My goal for now is to try to grow and prepare, gain experience. If some day in the future this opportunity comes along, obviously you can’t say no,” he added. “Just like coaching the Mexico team, it would be a great dream. But for now we have to work, keep working and work more to be able to have an opportunity like this.”
Barca Atletic are in action over the international break and take on Murcia on Saturday, September 24. The game could see summer signing Pablo Torre make his debut for the reserve side, as reported by Relevo.
Torre has been training with the first team but could drop down to Barca Atletic in order to gain some regular minutes during the 2022-23 and continue his development.
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