Barcelona’s Transfer Deadline Looms: Vitor Roque Will Join Barcelona in January
On Saturday, Athletico-PR announced that Brazilian forward Vitor Roque will join Barcelona in January. The 18-year-old is scheduled to play his final home game against Santos on Sunday before heading to Europe.
Barcelona and Athletico reached an agreement in July for the transfer of Roque, with the Spanish club paying a fee of €40 million ($43.6m). The player signed a seven-year contract.
Barcelona’s financial difficulties and failure to meet La Liga’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations have restricted the club from registering new signings in the past two seasons. The club’s current uncertainty surrounds Roque’s status.
Initially, the Spanish champions announced Roque’s transfer for the 2024-25 season but are now eager to bring him in next month.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez stated earlier today:
“It would be good for the team to bring Vitor Roque in January, but we have to see how it all works out. It’s still too soon to say,”
Young Brazilian Star Set to Replace Injured Barcelona Legend
The club suffered a setback as midfielder Gavi sustained a long-term knee injury. Adding Roque in January would provide Barcelona with essential depth behind the 36-year-old forward Robert Lewandowski.
Roque, who was out for two months due to an ankle injury, made a comeback last weekend, playing 26 minutes in a goalless draw against Vasco. In the recent match against Cruzeiro on Friday, he played for 45 minutes and scored his first goal since September.
Roque, a product of the same Cruzeiro academy that produced the former great Ronaldo Nazario, joined Athletico at the beginning of 2022. He has scored 28 goals in 80 appearances, contributing to their journey to the Copa Libertadores final last year.
In March, he earned his first cap for Brazil, becoming the youngest debutant for the five-time world champions at 18 years and 25 days since 17-year-old Ronaldo played for the first time in Brazil in 1994.
Krishanu Das is the founder and lead writer of Sports Dribble. With more than five years of experience in sports writing, he specializes in creating well-researched guides, sports rules, player rankings, tournament explainers, and match analysis across cricket, football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, and many other sports.
Although he works as an accountant by profession, sports have always been his lifelong interest. That passion inspired him to build Sports Dribble, where he focuses on publishing accurate, easy-to-understand, and regularly updated content for sports fans around the world.
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