Marc Roca paints different view of Angus Kinnear ‘broken glass’ comment at Leeds United
Marc Roca defended the manner of his Leeds United exit in comments that provide a different view to the one painted by chief executive Angus Kinnear.
Kinnear said on The Square Ball podcast last Thursday [7 September] that certain players were happy to “crawl over broken glass to leave our club” during the summer transfer window.
Without naming Roca, the Spaniard was one of those supporters immediately thought of given the manner of his return to LaLiga with Real Betis.
After all, Betis sporting director Ramon Planes claimed in an interview with Betis TV [4 September] that Roca called him daily in the summer to engineer a move away from Leeds United.
But Roca has had his say on his Elland Road exit in an interview in Spain, giving his own view on his departure from the club on the back of their relegation from the Premier League.
“I handled it well, very naturally and calmly,” he said. “In three years, I made two moves, to Bayern and Leeds, and with that experience you take it more calmly. I knew Betis’ situation and they knew my situation.”
Roca added that the move went through “smoothly”, but those behind the scenes at Leeds may disagree with the way the player went about things.
As it is, the 26-year-old is hardly a major loss for Daniel Farke in his attempt to guide Leeds back into the top flight.
Roca too often flattered to deceive upon joining from Bayern Munich in June 2022, and his absence will not be felt now that Ethan Ampadu, Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev have all arrived in that area of the field.
Rather awkwardly, though, Betis’ loan arrangement does not contain a purchase option, so Roca will be back in West Yorkshire at the end of the season.
You get the impression, however, that Leeds will not go out of their way to talk him into sticking around.
In other Leeds United news, a player was given a “9/10” rating for his display while away on international duty.