Julio Backed To Make Rovers Breakthrough

The Santa Cruz name is expected to live on with Blackburn Rovers for some time to come, even if Roque Santa Cruz moves on in the not to distant future as his brother Julio is tipped to shine.

Roque is being touted with a move away from Ewood Park constantly but this seems far from the first thing on his mind as he is not only tipping Julio to make the breakthrough at Ewood Roque is also hoping that he can have the chance to actually play alongside his younger brother.

Roque told the Citizen: "It is great to have Julio at Blackburn and I think he has the talent to play for the first team one day, it would be good to play together.

"He has the talent but now it is down to him and how he uses the opportunity. I believe he will work hard and make the most of what he has. He better hurry up though because I am getting old.

"I have also enjoyed getting to know him better because when I left Paraguay for Bayern Munich he was still very young."

Julio joined Rovers from Paraguayan club Cerro Porteno last summer after a trial period and Reserve manager Iain Brunskill has praised the 18-year-old, who he feels is improving all the time.

Brunskill said: "He's done well and he's improving all the time.

"Obviously with young players you get that and it's a little bit more difficult for him adjusting to the country and the style of football, which is obviously a little bit more physical than he has been used to."

Expecting too much from the teenager is something that Brunskill is calling people not to do, and comparisons with his older brother shouldn't be made.

He added: "It's difficult to say (when asked if he felt Julio could make the breakthrough). He's only just starting out.

"People will make obvious comparisons to his brother but they're not really that similar. They're different players and I think it's unfair to make that comparison really.

"But he's working hard and he's improving, and you never know in the future."

Many people feel that Julio was only brought to Rovers to appease Roque, but only time will tell if the three-year contract handed to the youngster will be worth it. However, I'd like to hope that the motives were purely football related and we have stumbled onto another talented footballer that can make the grade.


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