As FC Barcelona get down to business in the ongoing climate of the summer transfer window, decisions regarding their various operations are being finalized. One particular case in point being the conquest to bring a certain Brazilian wonderkid to Catalonia.
Vitor Roque is an 18-year-old prodigy who currently plays for Brazilian side Athletico Paranaense in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A. The youngster has also represented the Brazilian national teams at various levels with success.
As reported earlier, the asking price that has been set for any potential suitors interested in acquiring Roque’s services is in the range of €45 million. The player’s estimated market value as per Transfermarkt is €18 million. Despite being a consistently well-documented target for FC Barcelona, there have been some unfortunate revelations in recent reports.
As per Toni Juanmarti and several other emerging reports, Barcelona have come to the conclusion that they simply cannot afford to devote €45 million from their already restricted funds towards the Brazilian talent.
Instead, they hope the young star continues with his current club until at least the summer of 2024, when the Catalans project they will have much improved economic conditions and thus be able to better compete for the acquisition of the player.
While it is already quite well-circulated news at this point, the talents of the 18-year-old are remarkable and need no introduction. The Catalan club had been assessing Roque for quite some time and had envisioned him taking over the mantle of Barca’s primary center forward from Robert Lewandowski after some time under the Pole’s tutelage.
It remains now to be seen just how Barcelona end up formulating a transfer strategy for the summer and where exactly they choose to invest their funds following the pending approval of their Financial Feasibility plan.
