Villarreal midfielder Ramon Terrats has praised Barcelona summer recruit Oriol Romeu and claimed that with him the Blaugrana have made the best signing they could have in the pivot position.
Barcelona face off against Villarreal at El Madrigal on Sunday evening and ahead of the game, Terrats gave a candid interview with SPORT, during which he praised Romeu.
The 22-year-old versatile midfielder played with Romeu at Girona during the first half of last season, before he moved to Villarreal on loan in January. The transfer was made permanent this summer while Romeu ended up at Barcelona.
Romeu is like Busquets, says Terrats
“Barça have got it right, he’s the best signing they could have made in this position. He’s adapted wonderfully, he’s very quick, he’s going to give them a lot of balance, which I think is what Xavi is looking for,” Terrats said.
“He’s like Busquets, he does the dirty work and others benefit from it. De Jong is doing very well because he has Uri next to him.”
The Villarreal new boy also shed light on the recent conversation that he had with Romeu, saying:
“The other day I wrote to him, you know he’s not much of a mobile or social networker. He is very special, his way of being teaches you a lot of things.
“He always says, and he has a book that explains it very well, that as soon as you go out onto the pitch the first thing you have to do when the opposing team is dominating is to give them some stick, and he said to me: ‘I feel like giving you some stick’. Haha, he’s a very good guy.”
Barcelona will cope with injuries
Barcelona will go into the game without two key players in Ronald Araujo and Pedri, both of whom are injured.
Villarreal manager Quique Setien spoke about the matter earlier this week and claimed that it was a relief that the Catalans were without their key players.
Terrats also spoke about the injuries to Pedri and Araujo, but insisted that Barcelona will find a way to cope without them, saying:
“It’s true that they are very important players, but if they’re not there, others will be, they have a very, very good squad. There will be Gündogan, Oriol Romeu, who I like the most, Gavi… and at the back there will be people who want to do well.
“We also have to put pressure on them if they are defenders who don’t play a lot, to hurt them.”
Pedri’s injury has sparked rumours of a move for Giovani Lo Celso.
Terrats spent time with the Argentine at Villarreal in the second half of the last season when the pair were on loan at the club and reckoned he can be a good addition for Barça.
“I’m sure he would. He seems to me to be a more attacking profile than Barça have in midfield. A player with a final pass, I think he could be very good for them. He’s very good, you could already see in training that he has a different quality,” he said.
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