Over the course of the January transfer window, we will take a closer look at the best of the week’s business with our ‘Transfer of the Week’ special features. To kick things off, here is a look at why Vitor Roque could come in and make an instant impact at Barcelona – we won’t judge him on the 12 minute cameo he made against Las Palmas, on Thursday night.
By Neel Shelat
Despite all their financial difficulties, Barcelona had a major transfer pre-arranged before the window even opened as Athletico Paranaense’s Vitor Roque flew in from Brazil in a deal worth a reported €30 million, with a roughly equal amount of potential add-ons attached to that as well.
As they find themselves some way off league leaders Real Madrid at the halfway stage of the season, the Blaugrana will hope that this level of investment yields quick and impactful returns. The good news for them is that – on paper at least – all the signs look positive.
Simply put, Roque is the exact profile of striker Barcelona need right now to plug in and play in Xavi’s current tactical system. Although Robert Lewandowski’s experience and excellence throughout his career cannot be questioned, he is struggling this season and, some say, limiting his side’s attacking potential. So, he could do with a bit of competition, especially of the sort that is better suited to the system.
That essentially is the premise of this piece, so let us now dig a little deeper into the specifics of each statement. First of all, let us try and understand what sort of player Roque is.
The 18-year-old Brazilian forward has primarily been used as a striker in his short career so far, although he can also do a job as a left winger. His player traits radar should give us a good idea of what his profile is like.
At first glance, this might not look quite so encouraging. Roque appears to be a pretty one-dimensional forward who just deals in goals, not creating too much for his teammates, and showing a very low involvement on the ball in the build-up play. Once we look at what Barcelona need, though, it will become clear why this is actually a positive.
Before that, it is worth going over Roque’s record so far. He returned 11 goals in all competitions in 2022, when he was mostly used as a substitute by both Cruzeiro and Athletico Paranaense in either half of the season. After settling in Paraná in 2023, 19 of his 25 Brasileirão Série A appearances last year were starts, and he returned an impressive 12 goals and 3 assists.
His shotmap also looks quite good, with a very high volume of shots taken from dangerous positions close to the net – which is where almost all of his senior goals have come from.
From the rest of his stats, Barcelona should quite like what they see in his possession numbers (per 90 minutes – see below). Although Roque has a very low involvement in terms of touches overall, he does come alive in the box and always threatens with the ball at his feet thanks to his dribbling danger.
The youngster’s dribbling technique might not always be the best, but he possesses a quick change of direction and great tenacity that no defender will enjoy facing.
So, why should Lewandowski’s place in the team be threatened by Roque’s arrival? Well, for one, the Polish international is enduring a very tough spell in front of goal as he is underperforming his xG by a significant margin and missing a fair few big chances along the way.
Consequently, this is impacting the team as a whole as Barcelona have the highest xG tally in La Liga but are not even among the top three when it comes to actual goals scored. Surely, replacing a misfiring striker with a clinical finisher can only do them good?
Moreover, Lewandowski has also often negatively impacted Barça’s build-up play by dropping off into midfield too much. Since Xavi generally likes to deploy a four-player box midfield in possession, there is no need for the striker to drop in and crowd it out, but the Polish striker keeps doing so rather than staying high and threatening in behind to keep the opposition centre-backs on their toes.
This is precisely why Barcelona will like Roque’s lack of overall involvement through touches. Ideally, the young Brazilian will bring the precise balance of off-ball threat in the build-up phase and on-ball threat in the final third that Xavi wants from his striker.
With that being said, it is worth noting that given the congested nature of the fixture schedule and the fact that Roque is a teenager moving away from his home country for the first time in his life, he must be afforded some time to settle into new surroundings. Ideally, he should be rotated with Lewandowski for the rest of this season as Barcelona do not have any other recognised No. 9s, and of course, the long-term goal will be for him to take over as the first-choice striker as the Pole approaches the twilight of his career.
(Images from IMAGO)
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