Barcelona 'on verge of Vitor Roque signing'

Barcelona are reportedly closing in on the signing of Athletico Paranaense youngster Vitor Roque.

Despite having won last season's La Liga title, the Catalan giants are not finding it straightforward to add to their squad due to their well-documented financial issues.

Ruben Neves will allegedly move to Al-Hilal after club officials decided that they could not facilitate a deal for the Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder, while there is uncertainty over whether Ilkay Gundogan will eventually arrive on a free transfer.

However, it has become increasingly clear over recent months that Barcelona are eager to put terms in place to sign Brazilian youngster Roque.

Such has been the development of the 18-year-old that he has already been provided with his first senior appearance for his national team, that coming against Morocco in March.

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There has been widespread interest in the teenager, including from the Premier League with Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea all being linked with the prospect.

Nevertheless, according to Marca, Barcelona are on the verge of winning the hotly-contested race for Roque.

Despite the speculation, the forward has only ever shown interest in signing for Barcelona, regardless of the issues that the Spanish giants are currently facing.

The report states that there is no chance of Roque making the switch to Barcelona in order to represent them as soon as August onwards, the plan instead being to formally move in January.

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That said, Barcelona are said to be willing to commit to a deal worth up to €35m (£29.9m) that will officially go through at the beginning of 2024.

In theory, that provides Barcelona with the necessary time to generate the required funds and meet the FFP issues that stand in their way, at least in the short term.

Such an arrangement would also allow Roque to spend the remainder of the season in Brazil's top flight, where he has already chipped in with four goals and two assists from 10 appearances during 2023.

As well as sitting just eight points adrift of first place in the standings, Athletico Paranaense have also reached the last 16 of the Copa Libertadores.