Over the past year or so, Brazilian wonderkid had the who’s who of European football gunning for his signing. Barcelona, too, were one of the clubs interested in the 16-year-old Palmeiras prodigy, butєɴԀed up missing out on his capture.
Real Madrid beat Barcelona to the punch, closing єɴԀrick’s signing in December last year, in a Ԁєɑł worth €60 million, of which €35 million is a fixed fee and the remaining €25 million is the variable component.
Manager Xavi Hernandez had spoken openly about Barcelona’s interest in єɴԀrick, even confirming that the Catalans had held talks with the teenager and his father.
However, now, journalistSanti Ovalleis ɾєρօɾτing that even though Barcelona held an interest in signing єɴԀrick, they were never fully serious about their pursuit of the 16-year-old soon-to-be Real Madrid forward.
Instead, the ɾєρօɾτ adds that Deco, who at that point was still a transfer advisor at Barça, already had Vitor Roque on his radar and was working to bring him to the Catalan outfit.
The ɾєρօɾτ states that the former midfielder had been working on roping in the Athletico Paranaense ace to Barcelona even before єɴԀrick had signed for Real Madrid.
And, Deco, who is now the sporting director at Barça, has been successful in bringing Roque to the club.
Deco helped theBlaugranareach a €45 million (€35 million + €10 million) agreement to sign the 18-year-old striker from Athletico Paranaense – with the Ԁєɑł costing lesser than the transfer of єɴԀric to Real Madrid.
Roque has been in red-hot form this season, netting 15 goals in 29 matches for his club across all competitions. єɴԀrick, on the other hand, has managed only seven goals in 28 matches for Palmeiras thus far.
єɴԀrick will be arriving at Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, once he turns 18. As for Roque, Barcelona might also have towait until January next yearto welcome him to the club owing to their FFP problems which are causing registration issues.
