Barcelona will not compute losses with the sale of 20-year-old forward to Palmeiras – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have had a hit-or-miss record with transfers in recent history. Although the positive trends have improved immensely in recent years, there have also been a few players whose moves simply haven’t worked out.

One player who epitomises the same in recent months is Vitor Roque. Touted to be the next big Brazilian talent alongside Endrick who plays for Real Madrid, Barcelona advanced the transfer for Roque in January 2024, taking advantage of Gavi’s injury.

However, Roque’s move to Barcelona has turned out to be catastrophic. The Brazilian striker could not get regular minutes under Xavi, struggled when thrown into the deep and in just six months, his dream move had turned into a nightmare.

Barcelona then loaned Roque out to Real Betis where he performed decently well, without exactly setting the stage alight. Seven goals and two assists isn’t a bad tally but it did look like he was not fitting in well in Europe.

Now, Barcelona have recalled him from his loan and sold him to Brazilian club Palmeiras, and as per SPORT, the Catalan club is unlikely to compute any net losses from his transfer and subsequent sale. At this point, that is a huge bonus.

The report mentions that Barcelona signed Roque for €30m with €31m in add-ons, should he meet certain targets that included a number of games played, FIFA awards and even the Ballon d’Or. It is safe to say that Roque did not meet any of those targets for the club to pay any variables.

Now, with the sale, Palmeiras have agreed to pay €25.5m plus €5m in variables for 80% of his rights. What this effectively means is that Barcelona have managed to break even on a transfer that was disastrous by every stretch of the imagination.

Barcelona also had to reach an agreement with Real Betis to break Roque’s loan deal and the compensation has been offered in the form of Abde’s rights, with the Catalan club trading 30% of his rights and will now have only 20% as a sell-on clause.

The Roque saga was a timely reminder for Barcelona that they cannot spend money to bring in a player from elsewhere and expect him to immediately have an impact, especially when he is still a teenager.

Coming through La Masia and coming from outside is different and they will have to thank their stars that they did not take a financial hit with this Roque transfer and move on for the good.