Barcelona have agreed a deal worth up to €61million (£52.2m, $66.9m) to sign Vitor Roque.
The La Liga side will pay an initial €30m to Athletico Paranaense for the 18-year-old forward, with another €31m due in potential bonuses.
Roque is expected to join for the 2024-25 season and sign a contract with Barcelona until the 2030-31 season. The club confirmed he has a €500million buyout clause.
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La Liga’s spending limit means Barcelona face difficulties to spend money on transfer and register new signings, without first raising funds in some way.
Roque will therefore continue the Brazilian Serie A season with Athletico Paranaense, where he has so far seven goals in 13 matches. The 2023 Serie A campaign ends in December.
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Barcelona have so far signed Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez on free transfers from Manchester City and Athletic Bilbao respectively.
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Head coach Xavi spoke last week about transfers and admitted his side are struggling in the transfer market.
“We are in a complicated situation,” Xavi said. “We don’t have the privilege of being able to sign who we want, we have to adapt.
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“We’ll see how far we can go. We would like to reinforce there (on the right flank), but we depend on the market and fair play.”
Xavi is also keen to recruit former Chelsea and Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu to replace Sergio Busquets, but there is not a consensus within the club as to whether the 31-year-old is a suitable signing.
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Jack Lang has looked closely at Vitor Roque’s background in Brazil, focusing on how and why he developed from a defensive midfielder in his early years to being moved further up the pitch. You can read the full profile — but here is a section of it…
“Roque is one of the most sought-after young strikers in world football. His displays for Athletico Paranaense and the Brazil Under-20 side have attracted interest from some of Europe’s biggest teams, with Barcelona now winning the race for his services.
“Earlier this year, he became the youngest debutant for the senior Brazil men’s team since Ronaldo — a player to whom Roque has also been compared. That chugging sound you can hear is the hype machine moving through the gears.
“Identifying future superstars is a perilous game. Potential curdles easily. Roque has a long road ahead of him and a few rough edges to smooth. Watch him play, though, and it is hard to avoid the conclusion that he has something special. Not for nothing does Luiz Felipe Scolari, his former coach at Athletico, expect him to become one of the best players in the world.”
(Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
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