Juventus have stormed into the race to sign Barcelona forward Vitor Roque this summer, with Deco prepared to make a brutal transfer decision.
With Hansi Flick now at the helm at Camp Nou, Barcelona are gearing up for the upcoming transfer window. Along with adding to their squad, a number of players could also leave.
Players will likely have to be sold to fund Barcelona’s transfer activity and the likes of Raphinha and Ronald Araujo have been among the first team players linked with an exit in recent weeks.
Along with offloading some of their big stars, there are plenty of question marks that relate to some of their youngsters.
Among the youngsters facing an uncertain future is Roque. The Brazilian only joined up with Barcelona in January and yet he could already be heading for the exit door.
In the second half of last season the 19-year-old made 16 appearances across all competitions and scored two goals – with the majority of his minutes coming from the bench.
The 19-year-old joined Barcelona on a contract until 2031, although there is a growing feeling that the club could look to cut ties with him as early as this summer.
Deco, the sporting director of Barcelona, has reportedly decided to offload Roque this summer on either a permanent or loan deal.
Juventus are interested
Given his lack of minutes at Barcelona, it’s difficult to gauge what sort of level Roque is playing at right now, but based on his performances at Athletico Paranaense, he has a lot of potential.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Juventus are now considering a move for the Brazilian teenager, with a loan move seeming the most likely outcome at this stage.
Barcelona could regret letting Roque leave after just six months with the club and a loan move elsewhere could be the best solution for all parties involved.
While Juventus are keeping tabs on his situation, they aren’t the only club who have expressed an interest in the Barcelona star of late.
The likes of Man Utd and Tottenham have also been linked with the Brazilian star of late as the speculation surrounding his future continues to escalate.
It remains to be seen whether either Premier League side could offer him first-team football which is clearly what Roque is after right now.
The player’s agent Andre Cury has insisted that Roque will be starting from scratch under Flick, but it still seems as if Deco has made up his mind.
“Vitor Roque expected more minutes with Xavi. Now, with the new coach he is starting from scratch,” Cury said in May.
“In front of him, he has a world-class player like [Robert] Lewandowski. Vini Jr., for example, took two years to adapt.”
