Barcelona forced to settle for a loan for unwanted striker

Operation exit continues for Barcelona as the Catalan side reached an agreement with Real Betis over the loan of Brazilian striker Vitor Roque.

Despite wanting a permanent transfer, Barcelona settled for a loan with the LaLiga side.

Barcelona held talks with Portuguese club Sporting Club de Portugal who were willing to pay a fixed fee of 20 million euros with 12 million in add-ons.

However, Roque's intention all along has been to stay in Spain and, in the end, Barcelona agreed to that condition. In a sense, it was the least they could do given how his stint has gone since arriving in Spain.

Signed from Athletico Paranaense for 30 million euros, the logic behind his acquisition was he was eventually going to take over for Robert Lewandowski. The belief in him was so strong that Barcelona decided to bring him on board in January rather than wait for the summer.

It quickly became apparent that his signing was more of a Deco signing than a Xavi Hernandez one.

Roque scored the winning goal in Barcelona match against Osasuna. Three matches later, against Alaves, he scored his second goal. It was there, however, where things went sideways.

Despite scoring, he was also sent off in what looked like a harsh second yellow. Following that red card, he never seemed to get back in the good graces of Xavi.

He played very little and it looked like his Barcelona career was going to be over almost as soon as it started.

It was expected he was going to get another shot under Hansi Flick but he failed to impress during their preseason tour in the United States. In his desire to impress the new manager, Roque tried to rush everything in those matches with little to no results. He then saw Pau Victor score twice against Real Madrid and move above him in the pecking order.

It didn't help that he was played wide when he is best suited as a central striker.

He now gets a chance to get his European career back on track at Real Betis. It's a simple loan with Betis covering his wages.

The hope for Barcelona is he is able to gain experience and find some form. That will allow Barcelona to either count on him for next season or increase his value so they can move him on for a higher fee. On the other hand, the risk is he doesn't get on at Betis and it then becomes unlikely Barcelona receive a similar offer like the one they got from Sporting Club.