Vitor Roque situation: a possible loan and Xavi Hernandez take on underused Barcelona forward

Barcelona’s winter signing of Vitor Roque for €30m plus €31m, and was talked about as a potential manner of kickstarting their season. While things did improve at Barcelona, the Brazilian has not been responsible for it, playing just 310 minutes in the space of four months.

It has led to talk of a loan move for the 19-year-old in the summer, and with his transfer still to be registered with La Liga (he was signed as an emergency option to replace Gavi), many wonder if it might not benefit the Blaugrana in terms of freeing up space in their salary limit to do so.

Xavi: "Roque? We will decide on his future when the season is over. Right now he's a Barça player and he will help us."

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) May 3, 2024

As per Matteo Moretto on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, Roque is still keen to remain at Barcelona, but will speak with the sporting director Deco and manager Xavi Hernandez at the end of the season to work out the best course of action. For his part, Xavi believes the Brazilian needs more game time, but as he has been unable to give him it, feels that he could have those minutes elsewhere.

The deal to bring Roque in, and indeed to bring it forward to January, has come under heavy scrutiny in Catalonia. With Barcelona clearly in need of strengthening in other areas, Roque’s deal took up a significant chunk of resources, when perhaps others feel they could have used elsewhere. Had Roque hit the ground running and challenged Lewandowski for his place, it might have been a different conversation, but as it is, the investment remains one for the long term.

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