By Melody Gross 
Barcelona are already working towards next season and are eyeing another prodigy from Brazil: Vitor Roque, 17, the Atletico Paranains striker.
The team coached by Luis Felipe Scolari doubts the Copa Libertadores final with Flamengo and Vitor tonight, despite his age and only one season as a professional (contracted until 2027) after training in Cruzeiro, is poised to give the leap for Europe.
He scored 13 goals in all competitions and helped the team reach the final by defeating Palmeiras. According to Mundo Deportivo (which also gave an interview to the young player), Barcelona values all his qualities: he is very capable of scoring goals, fast, agile and disciplined, and has the endorsement of Deco, Barcelona’s ‘scout’ in Brazil. .
But his idol shone on his interested rival, too. When asked to compare him to another player, he did not hesitate: “I really love Cristiano Ronaldo. He is an inspiration to his work since he was a child.”
Do you prefer Real Madrid to that? “I have no preferences, I love all the big clubs in Europe. It is a dream for any kid who plays in Brazil to jump into a big kid in Europe. I have to work until I am ready when this opportunity comes,” he says, ensuring that his release clause At Atletico it’s ‘quite’ less than the 300m he has in Cruzeiro for foreign clubs.
It is worth noting that at the age of 17, Vitor was a former coach of former coach Vanderlei Luxembourg and now works for Scolari. Talk about what you learned from them. Luxembourg and Filipau are great guys, I felt very comfortable with them. I learned a lot from them and will continue to work to find out more. They did not like playing with touch [com lesão]He always wants to play. Phillipao told me to take it simple, that with work, everything comes at the right time.”