Over the past couple of days, rumours of Barcelona’s interest in Athletico Paranaense striker Vitor Roque have been gathering a lot of steam.
The 17-year-old striker is one of the best young talents in Brazil at the moment and is reportedly being pursued by the Blaugrana, who are already working on strategies to sign him in the summer without breaching their Financial Fair Play limits.
Now, according to Joaquim Piera of SPORT, Vitor Roque is prepared to wait for Barcelona to solve their FFP problems and come with an offer in the summer and is in no hurry to commit to any other club at this moment.
The young striker is currently away at the South American U-20 Championship in Colombia and has already scored three goals in the competition for the Brazilian U-20 side.
Vitor Roque will be turning 18 next month, which means that he can only leave Brazil for Europe in the summer transfer window and not right now. And he is no hurry to finalise his future right away and is prepared to wait until the summer.
While the teenage sensation is attracting a lot of interest following his performances for Athletico Paranaense, it seems that he has his sights firmly set on Barcelona, where he would initially be Robert Lewandowski’s understudy before eventually taking over.
Athletico Paranaense are prepared to let go of their young goalscorer for a fee of around €30 million plus add-ons. However, at this moment, Barça do not have the financial means to tie up the deal.
So, they will wait until the summer to pull the trigger once they finalise some exits and manage to improve their Fair Play situation. And Vitor Roque is prepared to wait until then as he is seemingly keen on signing for Barça.
The report adds that his agent and his family are also in favour of a move to Catalonia while Athletico would be open to accepting payments in instalments, which would be a relief for the La Liga leaders.
So, if the report is to be believed, it seems like the stars are aligning for Barça to sign Roque in the summer, with both parties keen on the move.