Athletico Paranaense confirm Vitor Roque is headed to Barcelona

Vitor Roque will play his final game for Athletico Paranaense.

The Brazilian side posted on their X account, formerly Twitter, a message for their star striker, with the match Santos on Sunday serving as a farewell.

The revelation all but confirms that the 18-year-old will now be headed to Barcelona where he will join the club in January during the winter transfer window.

"It would be good for the team to bring in Vitor Roque in January, but we have to see how it all works out. It's still too soon ," said Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez.

There was internal skepticism at Barcelona as to whether or not they would be able to register Roque. However, all signs point to that being the case given the long-term injury to Gavi.

Given the injury to Gavi, there was initial thought that Barcelona would prioritizie signing a midfielder. But it seems they shifted their priority to Roque who should provide further depth to the front line. Particularly at the striker position with Robert Lewandowski serving as the only pure striker at Barcelona.

Ferran Torres has played through the middle when Lewandowski has been absent but has struggled when it's come to finishing.

Roque is one of the more exciting prospects coming out of Brazil and should serve as a more mobile striker, giving Barcelona a different look. Again, it gives Xavi an alternative. Whether he uses him or not remains to be seen.

The idea of bringing Roque in during January is to get acclimated to the club as quickly as possible. It takes players some time to get used to things, espeically a young player coming from South America. Not only will it allow Roque to meet his new teammates, his new teammates will meet him and see how he moves on the pitch. It will also allow the club to see how Roque has recovered as he only recently came back from an injury.

Barcelona paid €40 million for Roque, committing a significant investment for a player they hope will be their main striker for the next decade.