Barcelona suffered a long, drawn out transfer saga to sign Vitor Roque in the January transfer window, but this has been a disastrous move so far.
The 19-year-old was regarded as one of Brazil’s finest talents at Athletico Paranaense, leading Barcelona to spend an initial €30m on him, with a potential €31m in addons, leading to a potential total deal of €61m.
Roque scored 28 goals in 81 games for the Brazilian side, and was regarded by transfer director Deco as the ideal addition in January. However, so far, there are major doubts over him, and he has scored just twice in 11 La Liga games, with his future far from clear.
Barcelona are set to loan out Vitor Roque
Less than six months after his highly-anticipated arrival, it now appears that Barcelona believe the next step for Roque is to go out on loan.
“Barca are now planning to loan Roque out next season. Sources from the coaching staff and the board of directors say the ideal scenario would be for him to get regular minutes at another top-flight Spanish side to help him get to know the language and the style of football,” The Athletic have now reported.
Given Barcelona’s financial troubles, and disappointing season on the pitch, it is undeniable that the decision to force a deal for Roque was a damaging one for Xavi Hernandez.
Xavi frustration with Deco decision over Vitor Roque
The report from The Athletic has also highlighted how Xavi was keen on adding a defensive midfielder to replace Sergio Busquets, but was instead handed a talent with little experience, who was ill-prepared to make an immediate impact.
This decision was the result of director Deco, who saw Roque as the priority, and elected to bring him in at great expense.
Roque did not make an immediate impact, his future is still uncertain and Xavi is still without his Busquets replacement. This one transfer decision could therefore prove to be incredibly costly on multiple levels going forward.