It appears increasingly clear that Barcelona have little intention of seeing how 19-year-old Brazilian forward Vitor Roque develops in the coming seasons. The Catalan giants seem considerably more intent on recouping the €30m they paid on the teenager, although that does not necessarily align with the interests of Roque himself.
Roque, who moved on loan to Real Betis in a deal that Betis may extend and ultimately buy 80% of his rights for €25 million, was eager to win La Liga this season. He turned down a more lucrative offer for Barcelona from Sporting CP, and the Blaugrana ended up on loan with Los Verdiblancos.
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So far, things haven’t gone precisely as planned. Roque quickly established himself as a starter under Manuel Pellegrini, although he has recently begun to be replaced by Cedric Bakambu in the starting lineup. This season, Roque has seven goals and two assists in 30 games, 18 of which were starts.
In the January transfer window, Betis spent €13 million on deadline day to sign Cucho Hernandez from Columbus Crew. This has been combined with claims that Betis have no plans to extend his loan or exercise their purchase option.
In theory, this would allow Palmeiras to make a move before the Brazilian transfer market ends at the end of February. O Verdao had already offered €27 million for 80% of Roque’s rights, and earlier this week it was claimed that they were eager to complete a deal with Barcelona provided they could negotiate the end of his Betis loan ahead of time.
However, according to MD, this will not happen because both Real Betis and Roque have stated unequivocally that they have no intention of doing so.
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