Barcelona’s gaze will turn this week, foreseeably on Wednesday, towards the El Prat airport. Signings destined to change the history of the club have landed through its arrival doors, especially in summer, but also in winter, when landings usually respond to emergencies. An 18-year-old boy known as Vitor Roque will appear there. He is not expected to be, at least in the near future, one of those who will take away the hiccups. Nothing to do with a Romário, a Ronaldo, a Rivaldo or a Ronaldinho, the four imperial Rs of Barça. Nor does it come with the background or fame of that thriving youth Neymar who appeared at the Camp Nou. But the club and the team need it to work as soon as possible, to help, to contribute, to add. The lack of creative efficiency is such that if Vitor Roque does little he will be an asset.
The truth is that once again Barça puts its focus on Brazil, its promised land. The game philosophy he likes the most is the Dutch one. He has internalized it in his DNA since the days of Johan Cruyff as a player and Rinus Michels on the bench. The most important footballer in its history is Argentine, Lionel Messi. There is no discussion. And yet, the foreign country where Barça has gone most hunting or fishing, depending on how you look at it, is Brazil, the land of football par excellence although it is not exactly going through its best moment in this sense.
Striker Vitor Roque will be the 39th Brazilian to wear the Barcelona shirt, paradoxically the number he wore in his early days at Cruzeiro and Athletico Paranaense. He will do so in his first experience in Europe, without first trying a bridge team as was done in the 90s (Romário and Ronaldo first played for PSV, Ronaldinho came from PSG and Rivaldo was bought with a clause from Deportivo). But those four footballers are big words, authentic incomparable transatlantics.
Of course, Vitor Roque’s objective will be to justify the price of his signing (30 million fixed plus 31 in variables). Because since Neymar left for PSG in 2017, the Brazilians who have come to Barcelona have been resounding failures, with the exception of a worthy Paulinho, who only spent one season in the entity.
On the other hand, Coutinho, signed for a prohibitive price (120 million fixed plus 40 variables), Malcom or Arthur Melo, called to be a samba format Xavi, turned out to be a fiasco. Not to mention the ghostly Matheus Fernandes, who barely played a few minutes and then sued the entity. He was always under suspicion like years ago the full-back Douglas, who was known to have not had a Barça level since before he arrived.
Vitor Roque’s last predecessor was Raphinha, who is not exactly succeeding at the moment.
She is a starter because the Barcelona striker is not overly talented, but the 58 million fixed plus 9 million in variables seems like an excessive amount considering that she has played 67 games for Barcelona and has only scored 13 goals. A very poor ratio, although you can’t argue with her fighting spirit.
Because what Barça has almost always looked for in Brazil is imbalance, magic and a goal. Since the times of the first great Brazilian in the club’s history, Evaristo, and even among the defenders, such as Dani Alves or Juliano Belletti, who gave the entity the second European Cup with a goal in 2006.
It won’t be for Vitor Roque as references from his country in Barcelona. The figures say that Barcelona’s Brazilian footballers have scored 705 goals. Although it is the foreign country with the most representation, it is not the one that has contributed the most. Argentina, with only 22 players, surpasses him with a total of 874 goals. Of course, of these, up to 672 bore the signature of a certain Leo Messi. He was the true spell of Barça.
