One of the tasks of FC Barcelona is to reduce the wage bill and balance the books, for which it will have to make some changes. There is no shortage of candidates in his squad. During the January transfer window, several names came to the fore to make room in the Barça dressing room. Ansu Fati has undoubtedly been the main player in this respect, with multiple offers from different clubs, but he has refused to leave despite not being called up for many matches.
Coach Hansi Flick, aware that he was going to stay in his ranks, has made it clear that the player is working well and close to the team, so he does not rule out the possibility that he may get some playing time again during the course of the season. The truth is that this frustrated promise of La Masía is receiving support from Lewandowski during training sessions.
Another name that FC Barcelona considered in January as an option to fill a space was Andreas Christensen. The Danish central defender has a secondary role and is also prone to injury. Just as the transfer market was opening, the player was returning from injury but the joy was short-lived and, just when there was talk of offers for him to leave the Blaugrana team, he relapsed, thus making the operation impossible.
The ‘problem’ that FC Barcelona wants to get rid of
Now, in addition to the need to find a way to get rid of players in the squad, they have the problem of Vitor Roque, who Real Betis does not want and for whom they are already looking for a place for next season. The club from Barcelona understand that the Green and Whites will not buy 80% of the Brazilian’s registration in the summer and that they will not ask for the loan to be extended either.
The player is playing a secondary role for Pellegrini and could have left in the winter transfer window, but he rejected offers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. His situation in the team became even more complicated with the arrival of Cucho Hernández. Does the arrival of Cucho rule out the continuity of Vitor Roque? “It’s still too early to tell. We have to have confidence in Vitor, see how the year ends, we have an open possibility, if both parties agree to his continuity… It’s still early. It’s true that we needed goals in general, not because of a specific striker. Now he has one more teammate to compete with,” said Real Betis president Ángel Haro just a few days ago.
The objective of the Catalans is to recoup the 30 million euros they invested in his signing from Atlético Paranaense. According to Sport, Deco is already sounding out the market and has verified that Vitor Roque is still highly sought after both in Europe and in Brazil. Given the economic situation of the culés, the option of using him as a bargaining chip in one of the operations that FC Barcelona wants to carry out in the next transfer window is also being considered.
The player was not keen on leaving Spain in January and Roque is not too keen on returning to his country either, despite the fact that his experience in Europe so far has not been what he expected. The truth is that the player is at the top of Palmeiras’ wish list and, if he is loaned out, he could be heading back to his country in the coming weeks, thus relieving Barça and Betis of a problem. In Brazil the transfer period ends on February 28th, the date on which Vitor Roque will turn 20, and the website ‘UOL Esporte’ reports that Palmeiras are working to sign the striker as soon as possible.