New Barcelona signing Malcom has laughed off Roma’s “provocation” after scoring against the Italian team on Tuesday only to see his new side go on to lose the pre-season friendly 4-2.
The Giallorossi were hours away from signing the Brazilian last week and had even reached an agreement with French side Bordeaux when Barca swooped in with a bigger offer, landing the 21-year-old talent for €41 million.
Ahead of the International Champions Cup fixture at Texas’ AT&T Stadium, Roma defender Kostas Manolas said he had “never heard” of the Brazilian forward and the club’s social media account jokingly “muted” him from its timeline.
But the player saw the lighter side, saying to reporters after the game: “I don’t get involved with that sort of provocation.
“What’s important is what happens on the pitch. There’s no need to go over and over [what happened]. I am here, I’m a Barcelona player and I want to help. I hope to be able to make the supporters happy.”
Pressed for his thoughts on how social media savvy Roma have dealt with the transfer saga on Twitter, he added: “No, nothing [to say]. It’s just jokes. I’m not angry about it.”
The Blaugrana new boy had several good chances throughout the game, and gave Barca a deserved second-half lead after Rafinha and Stephan El Shaarawy had exchanged first-half goals.
However, as coach Ernesto Valverde rang the changes, ending the game with 10 B team players on the pitch, the Spanish champions fell apart.
Roma took full advantage and turned things around with late goals from Alessandro Florenzi, Bryan Cristante and Diego Perotti.
