Vitor Roque move to Saudi Arabia collapsing due to wage demands – report

Barcelona forward Vitor Roque has been extensively linked with an exit this summer, but there has been much less certainty over his destination. Despite reported interest from Saudi Arabia, that appears to be off the table as things stand.

The 19-year-old was supposedly subject to interest from Al-Hilal, with Sport saying that they were willing to spend €40m on Roque. There have been multiple reports that Roque has turned down Al-Hilal, and now the Catalan daily say that the reason was because the offer was too low.

The Saudi giants were willing to more than double his Barcelona salary, but supposedly the Brazilian rejected their advances considering it too low an offer.

Earlier in the week it was also published that Roque would be more keen on a move to Lazio, but beyond an initial enquiry, Barcelona have not had much more in terms of interest. On the other hand, Porto are only interested in a loan move, whereas Barcelona want a permanent deal.

It should be noted that agent Andre Cury seems to have a large influence on Roque’s affairs, and it is something of a surrpise that money would be the decisive factor for the player, given he took a lower offer from Barcelona over others, if Barcelona are to be believed. At just 19 years of age, a certain reluctance to drop down a level and move to a third continent in a year is understandable.