Football London reports that Tottenham Hotspur have ‘renewed their interest’ in signing Barcelona forward Vitor Roque but face competition from Man Utd and Chelsea.
Tottenham attempted to sign Roque last summer but the Brazilian youngster eventually joined the Catalans for £34 million. He has had a rough start to life in La Liga, and it appears Spurs are ready to try again to lure him to North London.
Barca’s financial woes meant that they were unable to register Roque until January. Thereafter, he has struggled to fit into Xavi’s plans. Andre Cury, his agent, confirmed that Spurs and Man Utd were interested in his signing too, but they opted for Barcelona as a better ‘career plan’.
He said,
“We received much bigger offers from Tottenham and Manchester United for Vitor Roque. It was over €100million. But his career plan is well mapped out and we opted for Barcelona. The moment is not to look at the money but the career.”
The report, citing Spanish daily Diario AS, adds that Barcelona and Roque are now in a ‘tug of war’ and there are several teams who will ‘try to take advantage’ of the situation between the two parties.
Spurs have made one of 30 enquiries for him and have ‘knocked on his door’ after ‘almost everything was agreed’ for his transfer in 2023. As per the report, Chelsea and Manchester United will also enter the race for Roque’s signatures but both clubs need to make sales before purchases this summer due to FFP reasons.
Roque is ready to permanently depart Barcelona
Vitor Roque’s agent told RAC1 that they will ‘have to talk to the club to find a solution’ for the 19-year-old. A loan is hinted at being detrimental to Roque’s career with staying at Barcelona and leaving permanently the two options seen as a ‘good solution for all parties’. Cury said,
“A loan for a young boy ends up hurting him. The best thing is to stay at Barcelona, but if he can’t stay, we are going to work so that he leaves permanently, he will be sold. We are happy and we want to continue. If we can’t, we will sit down with the president and Deco to find a good solution for all parties.”
With Robert Lewandowski set to stay at Barcelona, who are themselves in a well-documented financial crunch, it would not be surprising if they are ready to sell Roque permanently in the summer.
Tottenham have been a breath of fresh air under Ange Postecoglou and would be frontrunners for his signing having spoken to his entourage previously. Roque is still valued at £34m by Transfermarkt and he’d be a good signing at that price.
Chelsea and United are expected to monitor several other forwards and may not rank Roque as a priority target ahead of next season.
