Saudi Arabia interest in forward could provide perfect exit route for Barcelona

Barcelona’s handling of Brazilian youngster Vitor Roque so far will go down as one of the worst in their history, with the 19-year-old arriving midseason off the back of an injury, only to barely play and be judged early. That said, there is no room for sentimentality at Barcelona this summer.

As per Sport, Barcelona live in fear that Roque moves elsewhere and turns out to be the player they thought he would be when they invested in him. Yet in order to invest in signings, sales are necessary, and Roque could be a sacrificial lamb in this sense, and in a squad with a number of forwards, they believe he has little space.

A club from Saudi Arabia is interested in Vitor Roque. They could offer a lot of money. @sport

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 16, 2024

The same source say that while Porto had until now been the side pushing most for his signing, amid links to Serie A sides too, Saudi Arabia are now interested in him. Lazio enquired, but little more, and now they have an offer on the table that would make them a profit on Roque. They say it is likely to be resolved on Barcelona’s return from their US preseason tour, as he wants to convince Hansi Flick of his value, but at that point the pressure will only grow for him to leave  from the club.

Barcelona spent €30m on Roque, plus €31m available in variables available, all none have been hit yet. He was supposed to provide both relief for Robert Lewandowski and learn from him to eventually replace the Polish forward as their new number nine. Yet his first six months in Barcelona seem to have convinced the club that they have made a mistake.