Barca sign Brazilian wonderkid
Barcelona have won the battle to sign Brazilian wonderkid Vitor Roque. The 18-year-old, who has starred for Athletico Paranaense over the past 12 months, was reportedly chased by Premier League clubs, including Arsenal and Chelsea. However, Roque and Barcelona have reached an “agreement in principle” to complete the signing this summer.
Spanish media outlet Sport reports: “Barcelona will pay 35 million euros plus 10 million euros in variables, divided across three years. And the young striker will sign for five seasons, which is the maximum period allowed by FIFA at his age, until 30 June 2028.
“The agreement between clubs will be made public in the coming weeks. And, as SPORT had already reported, Vitor Roque will join Xavi Hernandez’s squad this summer.
“Still to be finalised are the details between Vitor Roque and Barça regarding his salary, which will be adapted to the new financial reality of the club presided over by Joan Laporta.”
From Stoke to Real Madrid
Real Madrid are set to add Espanyol striker Joselu to their squad this week. The 33-year-old is set to move to the Bernabeu in a season-long loan deal that includes an option-to-buy clause. Joselu is part of a plan to add some attacking depth to the Real Madrid squad following the exits of Karim Benzema, Mariano Diaz, Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio.
The Athletic confirms: “Madrid are set to pay an initial loan fee of around €500,000 for Joselu and the option to buy is expected be around €1.5million.
“The deal is a loan move with an option to buy as Espanyol did not want a simple loan. Madrid were happy to agree to this but preferred to not do a permanent deal, so the proposal is an intermediate solution to appease both clubs.
“Joselu’s contract means he can leave Espanyol on loan for a year if a team paid him his full salary this season, but Espanyol would have a final say in keeping him if they could pay him the full amount from this campaign.”
Arsenal’s midfield plans
Arsenal could allow both Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey to leave the club this summer as the Gunners plan a midfield revamp ahead of the coming season. Declan Rice is Arsenal’s top target, but Mikel Arteta could dip further into the transfer market and allow Partey to follow Xhaka out of north London. Xhaka is expected to join Bayer Leverkusen for £13 million.
The Telegraph reveals: “Arsenal’s pursuit of Declan Rice is just the first step in a planned midfield overhaul at the Emirates Stadium this summer, with Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey both potentially leaving the club in the coming weeks.
“With both players now 30, Mikel Arteta and sporting director Edu are looking to refresh the midfield in the long-term. Arsenal’s plan is for the midfield to be rebuilt around captain Martin Odegaard and [Declan] Rice, provided they can reach an agreement with West Ham.
“Brighton’s Moises Caicedo is a long-term target but, at this stage of the window, is regarded as more likely to make a move to Chelsea. Arsenal have also shown interest in Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan.”
Neves follows stars to Saudi
Wolves captain Ruben Neves is set to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal for a club-record fee of £47 million. The 26-year-old, who has been a long-term target for Barcelona, is expected to complete a move to the Middle Eastern club this week and will sign a five-year deal with Al-Hilal.
The Guardian writes: “Neves, who is out of contract with Wolves at the end of next season having joined from Porto in 2017, has been a target for Barcelona for some time but they have yet to agree a deal for him.
“That delay has allowed Al-Hilal to submit their sizeable offer for the 26-year-old, with talks ongoing between the club and his agent, Jorge Mendes, and Neves likely to complete the move when he returns from international duty next week.
“It is understood Mendes has been instrumental in sealing the deal with Al-Hilal, who have also offered the Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku a lucrative contract but failed with their attempts to sign Luka Modric from Real Madrid despite him reportedly being offered a three-year contract worth £170m.”
