Vitor Roque to join Barcelona in January as space able to be freed up for registration

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.

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.