“El Tigrinho” was fan’s favourite in the Brazilian League and was considered one of the top talents when he was playing for Athletico Paranaense. When he arrived at Paranaense from Cruzeiro, he became the biggest signing of the club as Paranaense activated his release clause.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Soon he started scoring important goals and became a force to reckon with. He became an overnight sensation among the fans as there were parallels drawn between him and Endrick, another star in the making. Both came in at a tender age but displayed utter ruthlessness in front of the goal.
His prolific scoring nature attracted attention from the media as well as from some big European clubs who were on the lookout for scouting him. One of the clubs was Barcelona, who looked keen on signing him and improving their attack.
Also, as Real Madrid had already signed a Pre-agreement with Endrick, it became essential for Barcelona to sign Vitor Roque before anybody else.
Move to Barcelona
Barcelona announced in July 2023 that Roque is a Barcelona player and will join the club in January 2024 after staying half-a-season in Brazil. He was ready to join the club with a dream to join the Barcelona- Brazilian Hall of Fame with names including Ronaldinho, Neymar, Romario, among more.
He came in for an initial fee of around €30m with the same amount due again in potential add-ons meaning at a figure of around €60m to Athletico Paranaense for the Brazilian.
That time under Xavi, Vitor Roque had less playing time and was considered as a backup option for Robert Lewandowski who was himself having a dry spell in the La Liga. Vitor Roque could also not impress Xavi as he only had 2 goals in 14 appearances for the club.
He was not trusted much by Xavi as he thought he needed better grooming before playing at this level.
When Flick arrived, He had his ideologies clear about Roque, he was not considered for the squad by him. With very less game time, El Tigrinho became a bench warmer for Barcelona.
Loan To Real Betis
This is when a solution came begging as Real Betis were keen on a loan deal for him for a season long loan with an option to extend it for another year. Barcelona obliged meaning Vitor Roque would get exposure to La Liga and with serious game time meaning holistic development of the youngster.
This looked like a win -win deal for both the parties and Roque who now had a chance to prove his fierceness and skills.
Deal Agreed With Palmeiras
But after half-a-season at Real Betis now he is headed back to the Brazilian League as Palmeiras and Barcelona have agreed on a deal worth around €30m including add-ons.
This has come as a shock for the fans and the footballing world. Why is such a young talent going back to Brazil? After Joining Barcelona, youngsters dream of playing for the club and representing the team at the highest level but why has Vitor Roque at 20 agreed to go to Palmeiras.
The more strange part is that Barcelona has let him go for half the fee they paid for him to get him in Europe.
At 18, Roque was supposed to be the next big thing from Brazil but now a mere shadow of himself, he has chosen to go back to Brazil at 20. Still a very young talent to be conditioned, he can be back in Europe in 1 or 2 years considering the magnitude of his talent but he would be wondering where did it all go wrong as we all are.
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