Over the last few months, there has been plenty of speculation regarding Vitor Roque. Barcelona agreed a deal with Athletico Paranaense to sign the 18-year-old during the summer, but due to their poor finances, he was unable to join immediately.
In recent weeks, Barcelona have been working on freeing up salary space so that Roque can arrive in January. It had looked unlikely at time, but it now appears that they will definitively be able to bring him to Catalonia during the winter, although this has come around in rather unconventional fashion.
Following Gavi’s season-ending knee injury last weekend, Barcelona are able to sign a replacement, providing that the wages don’t exceed 80% of what the 19-year-old midfielder earns. RAC1 say that the Catalans will use this rule to ensure Roque’s registration in January.
🚨 JUST IN: Barça will be able to register Vitor Roque in January with the space created by Gavi's injury. @FCBRAC1 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/YBFRuWwDkU
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 22, 2023
Gavi’s injury is obviously a sickener for Barcelona, but it does appear to have created a silver lining, in that Roque will finally arrive. The challenge next summer will now be to ensure that enough salary space is cleared so that both players can play from the 2024-25 season onwards.
I’m sure Tebas is scrambling for a way keep this from happening, but if it does come to pass it will surely soften the blow of Gavi’s injury a bit.
Just keep Roque away from international duty.