The Paraguay striker has been training alone at Carrington all week before his new team-mates officially return for the tough pre-season programme they expect from manager Mark Hughes and his coaching staff.
And Hughes’ summer capture from Blackburn, steeped in success during his time at Bayern Munich, is gearing up to help the Blues make the long climb towards picking up medals and trophies in the English game.
He warned: “Winning trophies is a very hard task. It is certainly not going to happen from one day to the next. It is going to take a lot of work. We also need the right mentality to think about winning trophies.
“It is good to be part of the changes here. The intention is right from all the people here. As soon as we get the right mentality, I am sure it will be good.
“I know the way the manager likes to work and how he thinks. He has a winning mentality. It is the same for me, deep inside. We will play to win every week and try to win things. That’s why the decision to come here was so easy.
“The top four is the aim. There will be meetings between the players to decide our goals as a group. We also need them individually. But it is important that everyone thinks in the same way and is pushing in the right direction.
“Just to say we want to win as many games as possible will not be enough. We have to know in our own minds where we are going to finish. I have waited for this for a long time. Now it has happened, I am ready to work.”
Roque is expecting fierce competition for the starting places in the opener at his old club Blackburn on August 22, with the manager admitting a keen interest in rival strkers Carlos Tevez and Samuel Eto’o.
“One of the factors of being at a big club is that there will always be challenges and people working to get in your position. That will only make the club stronger and make people do even better, because they want to show how good they are.
“I am delighted to be here with the players we already have. I don’t know who else is coming but anyone who comes to make us stronger is very welcome.”
