FC Barcelona Have Chosen Which Number ‘9’ They Will Sign This Summer

FC Barcelona have already chosen which number ‘9’ they will try to sign this summer according to SPORT.

The Blaugrana bookended their La Liga-winning 2022/2023 season with a friendly win over club legend Andres Iniesta’s Vissel Kobe last week, and are now taking a break ahead of a preseason tour of the United States in July.

Before then, head coach Xavi Hernandez would like to have new players at his disposal with key positions that need reinforcing including defensive and attacking midfield plus right back.

Xavi also wants someone to stand in for Pichichi-winning striker Robert Lewandowski when the veteran needs to rest, and to provide positional rivalry that will keep the Poland captain on his toes.

According to SPORT, the club has already chosen which target they will hone in on in 18-year-old striker Vitor Roque, who has unanimous backing from the scouting department through to director of football Mateu Alemany and incoming sporting director Deco.

Brazil-born Deco has been key in negotiations traveling at the pace they have, and has been collecting information on the youngster for several months from key members of his club Athletico Paranaense including their World Cup-winning manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Roque’s family and entourage know that Barca intend to come in for the forward also capable of playing on the right wing. Because of this, they will block offers from other European rivals with Arsenal and Chelsea having already registered their interest in him in recent months.

Roque – who was the joint top scorer in Brazil’s recent South American U20 Championships win in Colombia – is viewed as a potential “Brazilian Luis Suarez” and the “perfect complement” to Lewandowski who can teach the youngster a thing or two before he eventually inherits his number ‘9’ shirt.

Even with the Catalans’ financial difficulties, paying the €30 million ($32.3 million) plus €5 million ($5.4 million) in variables fee that Athletico want should not be too difficult a task once Barca can make some sales.

In the 2023 South American season, Roque has thus far notched an impressive tally of 15 goals and five assists in 33 games.