He is 18 years old and has a lot of enthusiasm and ambition. He is young, still a world promise with a long journey ahead of him, but he is clear about what he asks of his new step as a professional, the first in Europe: success. Vitor Roque wants to succeed at Barcelona, with whom he will debut in January after being registered in the winter market. For this reason, he has anticipated his arrival with the aim of getting to work as soon as possible.
“I always had the will to win the most,” he assured the official media of the Blaugrana club. Barcelona, who signed him in July, believed that it was the right time for him to fly and join Xavi's discipline, in need of goals and accuracy, the two characteristics of his reinforcement, who in 2023 scored 21 goals in his previous club, Athletico Paranaense, plus five with the Brazilian U-20.
His career, at the moment, is brief, but the Brazilian already has two titles under his belt, both of little significance: the 2023 Paranaense championship and the South American U-20 championship that he won last February with his national team. He also knows what it's like to be left at the gates of glory, as happened to him in the 2022 Copa Libertadores final, which he lost to Flamengo. Some awards and showcases that the forward wants to increase at Barça, a club that normally aspires to everything and that has always had a special bond with the forwards of its country, where the striker lands hungry above all for "victories."
In his goal, Vitor Roque did not want to take an intermediate step, but rather jumped directly from Athletico Paranaense to a great player in the League. The consistency and perseverance that he showed in his first, very hectic hours, will be very useful on the field, where intensity, mobility and unmarking will be required of him, as well as effectiveness on occasions.
In a few hours, the Brazilian, who had just landed, defeated the jet lag and took the opportunity to visit the mountain of Montjuïc, Barça's sports city in Sant Joan Despí, which will be his dressing room – he will change next to his compatriot Raphinha –, he spent the medical examination and even dressed in the Blaugrana shirt, even without an assigned number. He later returned to Barcelona to visit the club's offices and have his photo taken in front of the shield, a tradition for new signings. He appeared dressed in a Barcelona scarf, repeated the surfer greeting that Ronaldinho popularized and did not hesitate to kiss the shield when photojournalists asked him to.
For the Brazilian, his signing “is a dream that I have now come true. "I am very happy for everything that has happened to me in my life," he noted, while confessing that both he and his family - accompanied by his parents, his sister and his wife, Dayana - were always clear about choosing Barcelona, because it was the ideal place.
The Brazilian has no preferences about the trophies he hopes to win, but instead wants to win “everything possible.” What he did express was his gratitude to Barça, who has paid 30 million (which can reach 31 with all the variables), and who has a lot of hopes placed in him. To the point of giving him a contract until 2031. “I want to help the club as much as possible,” he explained.
The former Athletico Paranaense attacker is aware that he is joining a team and a football to which he will have to adapt. In addition to ambition, he arrives with the intention of learning and growing. “I will try to learn as much as possible from the entire group and enjoy it,” he stated.
After Neymar, only Douglas, Arthur Melo, Yerry Mina and Matheus Fernandes signed for Barça directly from Brazil, and none of them succeeded. The Gremio interior was unable to settle for two years, the Colombian defender barely played six games before being transferred to the Premier and even less was the Brazilian midfielder seen: only 17 minutes before being terminated.
Tigrinho is a project for the future, which must grow alongside Lewandowski. While the Pole will now have direct competition. In terms of football, Vitor Roque is a powerful area nine (1.72 meters) and he cannot hide that he likes offensive football. “I'm excited, I always want to have the ball all the time and also score goals,” he defines himself. That impetus will come in handy for Xavi's Barcelona. Tomorrow will be his first training session.
