Barcelona have made it their priority to secure the signing of Athletico Paranaense striker Vitor Roque in the summer transfer window.
The 17-year-old striker has been in fine form over the past year or so, helping his club reach the Copa Libertadores finals and then leading the Brazil U-20 national team to success in the South American U-20 Championship.
With the team lacking a backup for Robert Lewandowski currently, Barcelona have identified Roque as the ideal target to provide cover and eventually take over as the premier No. 9 at Spotify Camp Nou for the future.
Barcelona are the best-placed club to sign Roque in the summer, even though the teenage sensation is attracting serious interest from several top clubs across Europe.
Indeed, Arsenal are reportedly making a concrete push for the young striker’s signing while the likes of Chelsea, West Ham United and PSG are also keen.
Furthermore, Italian outfits like AC Milan, Inter Miland Torino are also looking at the Athletico Paranaense striker, while closer to home, Atletico Madrid are interested as well.
Despite so many high-profile clubs chasing his signature, Vitor Roque wants to play for Barcelona, which puts them at the front of the queue to land him in the summer.
The youngster’s agent, Andre Cury, is already understood to have met Barcelona officials Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff as well the club’s transfer advisor Deco. During the talks, it has been made clear to the Blaugrana that Roque wants a switch to Camp Nou.
At the same time, it has also been relayed to Barcelona that Athletico Paranaense, who will hold out for around €35-40 million for Roque, could be open to facilitating easier payment options for the operation.
However, Cury has urged Barça to act swiftly as the interest in the youngster is growing by the day and as a result, his price could also go up significantly.
The two parties are reported to have agreed that a delegation from Barcelona will fly down to Brazil to hold direct talks with Athletico Paranaense and explain the project in detail to Roque as well.
Things could be set in motion soon as Barcelona will want to close the deal at the earliest to avoid the situation where Roque’s price tag skyrockets to such an extent that they can find it hard to match it.
