Man United target Vitor Roque could depart Barcelona in the summer if problems with Xavi persist | OneFootball

Manchester United’s need to strengthen up top is pretty apparent with the Red Devils currently languishing in eighth place in the Premier League, having scored the lowest number of goals among the top 11 teams.

Bruno Fernandes is the current top-scorer with 15 goals while summer signing Rasmus Hojlund has managed 14 strikes in his debut campaign.

The young Dane has suffered from inconsistency, which was expected considering his age and the fact that he landed in Manchester on the back of one good season in Italy.

Manager Erik ten Hag never wanted to overburden the 21-year-old and hence asked for further reinforcements both in January and last summer but no help was forthcoming.

Striker needed

The Dutchman has been let down by last season’s top-scorer Marcus Rashford, whose off-field controversies have overshadowed his on-field displays with the club mulling over a potential sale.

Anthony Martial has only recently returned to training after an extended period on the sidelines, pretty much the story of his United career, with the Frenchman set to depart at the conclusion of the campaign.

New co-owners INEOS will recruit a striker but a lot will depend of the eventual budget with PSR concerns catching up with the Red Devils.

The Peoples Person had recently relayed that the 20-time English league champions were contemplating a loan approach for out-of-favour Barcelona starlet Vitor Roque.

The January arrival from Club Athletico Paranaense has scored twice from 13 appearances but has not started the last three games while his minutes have noticeably gone down since February.

According to the highly-rated Brazilian’s agent, Xavi has consistently overlooked the 19-year-old and a meeting will be held with the club to decide the 19-year-old’s future.

André Cury reiterated to RAC1 (via Mundo Deportivo) that the Brazil U23 international rejected numerous better offers from top clubs including United to join the Catalan club but if these problems with the management persists, an exit could be on the cards.

He further added that the centre-forward would not be loaned out but rather a permanent exit will be sought as temporary deals could affect Roque’s development.

“The boy has a contract with Barça. We chose Barça, despite other options to earn double, because we wanted to play for Barça. We are going to show and I am certain that Vitor is going to be a great player.

Roque’s uncertain Barca future

“But if Barça won’t let him… The club, the coach or I don’t know what’s happening internally, we’ll have to look for another way. If the club does not give space to Vitor, unfortunately we will have to talk to the club to find a solution.

“A loan for a young boy ends up harming him, because he goes to another club that does not own him and has no interest in taking care of him. This is very dangerous for the boy’s career. The best thing is to stay at Barça, but if he can’t stay we will work to get him to leave permanently.”

Whether Roque is the answer to United’s goalscoring malaise is not quite clear. Hojlund needs help while the Brazilian wonderkid is far from the finished article and will take time to adapt.

United should ideally sign someone who is ready to take up the mantle as United’s go-to goalscorer which will allow the Dane to keep learning and improving while playing much more freely without too much pressure.

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