Vitor Roque arrived at Barcelona and the mystery the fans wanted to know was unveiled

Serious financial problems over the past few years have prevented Barcelona chiefs from signing high-value players. Instead, they have had to find ways to negotiate loans with options to buy, target free agents and give priority to promising players coming through the club's youth teams.

However, this has not always been enough. In fact, during this season Los Blaugranas have had problems in some sectors of the field due to a lack of alternatives. One of those sectors is the attack. Robert Lewandowski is the only centre-forward in the squad and when he has not been able to play, coach Xavi Hernandez has had to improvise by using Ferran Torres there.

That is why one of the manager's priorities was to hire a player who can fill that position. And the one chosen was Vitor Roque. The 18-year-old striker shone this season at Athletico Paranaense in Brazil and Barcelona agreed to buy him for $30 million plus another $30 million in bonuses if certain objectives are met. But his arrival depended on the club being able to comply with financial fair-play rules, something that was made easier thanks to Gavi's injury.

With this scenario, the Brazilian player flew to Spain this week and arrived in Catalonia to join the training sessions under Xavi Hernandez. He underwent medical examinations and was interviewed for the first time by Barcelona's official media. There he assured: "I am very happy with everything that has happened in my life. It was a dream of mine as a child and of my family. I want to learn as much as possible with the whole group, enjoy, learn and score goals".

The mystery is unraveled

One of the questions that all the fans were asking was what jersey number Vitor Roque would have at Barcelona. In Atheltico Paranaense he had the number 9, but in the Catalan side that is the number of Robert Lewandowski. That is why the Brazilian player will wear the number 19.