Barca to keep squad together in January – options open for loan alongside Roque

Barcelona are not intending on moving on any of their players on during the winter transfer window, as per the latest coming out of Catalonia. The big signing is presumed to be Vitor Roque, with the Brazilian striker looking increasingly likely to move his summer move forward.

Recent reports have claimed that Barcelona will use the space vacated by Gavi’s salary to bring in Roque, but Sport say that this is not the case – the 80% of Gavi’s wages they can use on a replacement will be saved in case they want to bring in a loan player.

Roque will arrive on a transfer and not a loan, according to their information, and in addition, Barcelona are not planning on making any sales either. Marcos Alonso and Sergi Roberto are both out of contract, but both will see their deals out.

The main priorities for Barcelona are a forward, in theory Roque, and a midfielder, either to replace Gavi, or to compete with Oriol Romeu at the base of midfield. However the Blaugrana will not be able to wade into January and see what options arise. From Gavi’s injury, the Blaugrana have 30 days to make an ’emergency’ signing in order to replace the 19-year-old, a period which ends before the window opens. Should they unregister Gavi, they will be able to use the money saved on his wages, but any signing via that method will be subject to salary limit restrictions.