For months, it seemed like Barcelona had a deal to sign Vitor Roque from Athletico Paranaense, with both the Brazilian and Spanish media sounding very optimistic about it.
The Catalan side’s financial problems were recently brought up, though, and that’s when it was said that Tottenham Hotspur and other clubs were pressing to take advantage of the situation, trying to hijack the deal.
That had no result, though. Because according to Mundo Deportivo today, Vitor Roque has already signed by Barcelona and the transfer is about to be officially announced. The deal is being made for €30m plus €31m in performance bonuses.
As for what happened in the past few weeks, it’s explained that Barça’s issues with financial fair play indeed delayed the deal, and that’s why other clubs started making their moves, with Tottenham being one of them who made pressure.
That situation led Athletico to give Barcelona an ‘ultimatum’ and see if they would honour their deal.The Camp Nou side then made their final move by decreasing the initial transfer amount and raising the bonuses. That sealed the agreement, and it now seems like Tottenham, Manchester United and Paris Saint Germain never actually had a chance in this competition but were a useful tool for the Brazilian club.
