Vitor Roque will ask to be sold by FC Barcelona if the club tries to force him to go out on loan according to Mas Que Pelotas chief Adrian Sanchez, who quoted anonymous sources.
The Brazilian joined Barca at the turn of 2024, as part of a deal that could be worth north of $60 million if he reaches a number of objectives.
Despite the club going to great lengths to try and register the striker, however, which was only made possible when Gavi ruptured his ACL while on international duty in mid-November, he has featured little under head coach Xavi Hernandez.
Previewing last Monday’s 4-2 win over Valencia at the Montjuic Stadium, when Vitor Roque was once more an unused substitute, Xavi left the door open to the player possibly leaving on loan.
“It’s not easy to come from Brazil at the age of 18, 19 and make a difference at Barca. He needs adjustment time, minutes, and confidence,” Xavi insisted, while also stressing that each player will be analysed case-by-case as to their continuity at the club.
With Robert Lewandowski in his way to be Barca’s number 9, in addition to Marc Guiu, it is possible that Vitor Roque is loaned out.
On Wednesday evening, Cadena SER’s Santi Ovalle reported Vitor Roque wants to say at Barca and neither he or his entourage are considering a loan.
Sharing that information, Adrian Sanchez adds that the teenager indeed doesn’t want to go out on loan and has already let the club know.
If it decides that he must, however, “the feeling is that the player will to be transferred”, in what would be a dramatic turn of events considering the prodigy will have spent just six months at the Montjuic Stadium.
According to Vitor Roque’s agent, there would be no shortage of interested parties as he told RAC1.
“At the moment there is a queue of clubs that would be willing to sign him for €50 million ($53.5 million),” Cury said.
“Barca has only paid €10 million ($10.7 million), so it would be a worthwhile operation. With three operations like this they [will have] solved their financial problems.”
“Barca pays €5 million ($5.3 million) every six months until he reaches €30 million ($32 million) fixed. And to meet all the variables, Vitor should be a starter.
“If he is a starter at Barca at 20 years old, his price tag would be €200 million ($214 million) for sure,” Cury predicted, before breaking down the variables of the deal made with Athletico Paranaense.
To spin a profit on Vitor Roque, Barca could put him up for sale for something past $50 million considering what they have already paid Athletico.
He would undoubtedly have a market in the Premier League, where Chelsea were previously keen on acquiring him.