Barcelona have a proud history of Brazilian players. Three different Selecao stars have been awarded the Ballon d’Or after a season in Catalonia – and that doesn’t even include 1994 World Cup winner Romario or the most expensive player of all time, Neymar.
Ronaldo was an Inter player by the time he lifted the 1997 Ballon d’Or but had performed most of the majestic feats that earned the gong in Barcelona’s colours. A quarter-century later, the Blaugrana have supposedly signed Ronaldo’s reincarnation, Vitor Roque – they both started at Cruzeiro.
The 18-year-old sparked a bidding war among Europe’s elite after lighting up the Brazilian top flight with Athletico Paranaense. Barcelona won the race with a fee that could rise as high as €61m but won’t get a first-hand look at Roque’s talent until 2024.
Here are the potential shirt numbers which Roque could wear as he tries to follow in the footsteps of the club’s brilliant Brazilians.
Roque, dubbed the ‘new Ronaldo’, also came through at Cruzeiro but only wore the number 9 at youth level for the club. The ‘Little Tiger’ – a much better nickname – made his senior debut as the 39. Athletico broke their club transfer record to lure the teenager to Curitiba in April 2022 for £4.4m.
After initially sticking with 39, Roque graduated to 27 before finally becoming a senior number nine for the first time last season.
Roque scored six goals in eight games for Brazil’s under-20 team at the South American Championships at the start of the year in the number nine shirt. When Roque was handed his senior debut in a 2-1 friendly defeat against Morocco in March, he trotted on for the final 25 minutes with 19 on his back.
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Barcelona president Joan Laporta would not confirm when Roque will join the Catalan giants. Financial limitations at Barcelona ensure that there is no chance of Roque rocking up this summer, however, he could be available once the Brazilian season wraps up at the end of this calendar year.
“We have this [financial] viability plan,” Laporta explained upon Roque’s arrival, “It is scheduled for January or June.”
The Blaugrana still have to hand out personalised digits to Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez, two summer additions that are expected to feature from the start of the coming season. Sergino Dest has also returned from a fruitless loan spell at AC Milan but has not yet been handed back his number 2 shirt. 3, 5 and 6 are also available but are traditionally too low for a striker like Roque.
Robert Lewandowski is the proud owner of Barcelona’s number nine and is unlikely to give up the iconic digit to a player 16 years his junior. Roque could potentially plump for 12 or Jordi Alba’s vacated 18, while 16 is also on the table. First-team squad numbers in Spain only go up to 25, which is also currently available but reserved exclusively for goalkeepers.
As Roque may not officially suit up with Barcelona until next summer, he could potentially take a digit which is already in use. Ousmane Dembele’s number 7 will be on offer if his contract in not extended before its expiry in 2024. Marcos Alonso’s 17 and Sergi Roberto’s 20 are less glamorous options.
On this week’s edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss Tottenham rejecting a second bid for Harry Kane, Manchester United’s business, Romelu Lukaku’s Chelsea future, Paul Pogba being PIF’s number one target for the Saudi Pro League & more!
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