Barcelona will look to jettison loan star – will not return to the club

Barcelona appear ready to wash their hands of Vitor Roque, sooner rather than later. The Brazilian arrived to much fanfare last winter after the Blaugrana forked out €30m to sign what they had hoped was Robert Lewandowski’s successor, but things have not gone to plan.

He has since moved on loan to Real Betis, after Hansi Flick decided he would be happier elsewhere, with Roque delving deep into all of the issues he faced at Barcelona on a frequent basis. Los Verdiblancos have an option to buy 80% of his rights for €25m at the end of this season, or €27.5m the following summer. Roque currently has 5 goals and 1 assist in 19 appearances.

According to Sport, there is no chance that he will return to Barcelona. His time at the club is over, even if he performs well, even if they are hoping to have an alternative to Robert Lewandowski next season, to ease the load on the 36-year-old. However their hope is that one of Pau Victor or Ferran Torres will become that alternate source of goals through the middle this season, which would mean they would not have to go into the transfer market.