$60 million in two years: the impressive increase in the price of this Barcelona star

Barcelona have had a lot of problems over the last few years because of bad decisions by the club's previous chiefs. When Josep Maria Bartomeu was president, they spent a fortune on signing players who then did not show the expected performances and ended up leaving for much less money. That's what happened, for example, with Ousmane Dembélé and Philippe Coutinho, for whom they paid more than $300 million in 2017 and were a flop.

Those bad decisions caused serious financial problems that then negatively impacted the team. Debts and financial fair-play restrictions forced them to get rid of several important players, such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. And that caused the team's level to drop a lot, falling far behind other European giants such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

However, since Joan Laporta became president, things have improved little by little. This summer they were champions of La Liga and now they have qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League, something they have not achieved since 2021. And that's not all. They have also made better decisions when it comes to signing players.

A case in point is that of Vitor Roque. The Brazilian striker was worth just $220,000 a year and a half ago, but his excellent performances with Athletico Paranaense made him a star. That caught the attention of Barcelona, who this summer agreed to buy him for more than $40 million. And the transfer could be even more expensive, up to over $65 million, if certain objectives are met. Undoubtedly, with him Barcelona secured one of the most promising young players in the world.

When will he join?

The intention of Barcelona's chiefs is that Vitor Roque will travel to Spain in January to join the squad's training sessions and be available for the second half of the season. Gavi's injury facilitated these plans, as it gave them room in the financial fair play to add a new salary.