He was almost announced as the savior and FC Barcelona fought for a long time to get him back. This summer, young Brazilian striker Vitor Roque signed for FC Barcelona despite interest from PSG. The Catalan club paid 30 million euros, plus 30 million in bonuses, to afford the 18-year-old striker who was due to arrive at the start of the 2024/2025 season at his new club. Except that ultimately, Barça decided to repatriate him earlier than expected. Faced with his team’s major offensive difficulties, Xavi called for reinforcement up front. And the Catalan management therefore decided to make Vitor Roque the winter recruit. On the other hand, we had to succeed in including him in the squad in La Liga.
And after several financial complications, the Blaugrana proudly announced his registration. This Thursday, he was in the group for the match against Las Palmas. And he had the opportunity to shine since Xavi gave him a good twenty minutes in a complicated match. The Brazilian came on as his team was held by Las Palmas. In a few minutes, the former Athletico Paranaense managed to shine by missing several clear chances. So nothing to gain confidence in. And his performance did not go unnoticed from Brazil to Spain.
Criticisms but optimism
After its premiere, Marca was not gentle at all. “He had several occasions where he could have made his debut as Barça’s goalscorer, including the one where he finished completely alone in front of the keeper and sent the ball wide. Vitor Roque, Barcelona’s new 500 million striker (editor’s note: his clause), makes his debut with a blatant failure against the goalkeeper. thus writes the Spanish media. Different bell sound on the side of Sport who was rather impressed by the young striker’s debut. “Although he has only been at Barcelona for a week, the Brazilian has adapted well to the club. The Brazilian striker had his first minutes and made a good impression on his debut.”
For its part, the Brazilian press was rather neutral in its analysis. Globo title as follows: “number 19 took a while to create chances, but he missed a clear chance in the box”. After the meeting, Vitor Roque spoke. “I am very happy with the victory and my start. It’s a dream that I’m making come true. We continue for more, glory to God”he said while Ferran Torres, scorer for Barça, spoke about the new competition in attack. “The more competition there is, the better it is for the team and also on an individual level. We are six players, everyone can play and we have to be prepared. The debut of Vitor Roque was noticed and he will have the opportunity to quickly move on while Lewandowski and Joao Felix are no longer unanimous.
