On Thursday, reports emerged that Athletico Paranaense have given Barcelona the hurry-up as they look to complete a deal for Vitor Roque.
A deal for the 18-year-old Brazilian international is all-but complete, although their is still final details to be sorted on Barcelona’s end. This is frustrating Paranaense, who are threatening to listen to other offers for Roque.
Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain are hoping to hijack Barcelona’s deal, and they are prepared to offer Roque a much more lucrative package than the one he will be on in Catalonia.
Despite Paranaense’s pressure, Barcelona are calm about the situation, according to Gerard Romero. Club officials has reiterated that they cannot complete deals quickly due to their poor financial situation, but they don’t foresee it affecting the Roque deal.
🚨 The complicated economic situation of Barça means they can't complete operations as quickly as they'd like. Athletico Paranaense's pressure is strong, but at the moment, there's calm at Barcelona. @gerardromero 🇧🇷
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 6, 2023
If/when Barcelona finalising the signing of Roque, attention will then turn to whether he will join now or in January. Given the club’s precarious finances, the latter appears to be more likely at this stage.
Poverty is bad. Barcelona spuld be privatised. They’re not going to seal this deal. Barca can be calm but the player is not interested in calmness. The club wants money, period. No money no business.