According to the latest reports, two English clubs in Southampton and Liverpool are monitoring Espanyol’s teenage sensation Marc Roca. The 6ft ½ inch central midfielder is a product of the Espanyol youth academy which he joined in 2007. After graduating through the ranks, he got promoted to the reserves team and made his debut with the Espanyol reserve team in the Segunda Division B in 2014.
Since then, he has had 45 games under his belt for the reserves scoring 4 goals. After the sacking of Constantin Galca, who managed to last for 5 months, the La Liga club appointed Quique Sanches Flores as their new manager at the start of this season. Flores has since promoted Roca to the first team with good effect.
The Blanquiazules has been disappointing in the La Liga with just 7 points from their 8 games so far. However, the 19-year-old Roca has been able to catch the eye amidst the disappointments. Considering his age, he has been very impressive and has tried to give some support to the likes of Pablo Piatti and Gerard Moreno who have been the standout players for the club this season.
From his 7 appearances in the La Liga, 6 of them being starts, Roca has displayed a level of composure and intelligence in the midfield which has got the likes of Liverpool and Southampton very excited. The Spaniard is a very good passer, who has passed the ball with an average of 84.9% accuracy so far playing 4 successful long balls per game.
The teenager’s ability to play accurate long balls makes him very effective during the counters as he can initiate openings with his passing allowing his teammates to gain space quickly in the opposition half. Defensively, he has a bit to learn but still contributes with his 1.9 tackles and 1.6 interceptions per game. With his height, though, he really needs to win a lot more header than he does currently, winning 0.4 aerials per game.
Quique Sanches Flores has been quick to identify his talent and wants to extend his current contract with increasing his buy-out clause. At the moment, Roca has his current deal running until the end of 2017 with an option of a further two years and consists of a release clause equivalent to £1.3m. With interests from the Premier League, the player is now at an important position to decide his future with his current contract ending in a few months.
It remains to be seen how the talks with his current club progress and if Espanyol are unable to tie him down for the future then we might see some movement in the January transfer window involving Roca. While there are plenty of things in his game which needs improvement, this 19-year-old has got the talent to be an important player in the central midfield in the future.
