Barcelona have signed exciting forward Vitor Roque from Athletico Paranaense on a seven-year deal - and have inserted a €500m (£427m) release clause into his contract. 

The 18-year-old, reportedly bought for an initial £25.6m, came through the ranks at Atletico Mineiro and Cruzeiro before making his senior debut for the latter in May 2021 aged 16. 

He then moved to Athletico for a club-record fee of just under £4m, scoring seven times in 36 appearances across all competitions for the Curitiba-based outfit in 2022 and earning his place in the Copa Libertadores Team of the Tournament before bettering his numbers this year, bagging 15 goals in 30 games, including six strikes in his last seven matches. 

This year saw Vitor Roque guide Athletico to their first state championship since 2020 and earn his first Brazil cap, albeit in a 2-1 friendly loss to Morocco. 

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He was also part of Brazil's victorious South American U-20 Championship team in February, finishing as the tournament's joint-top scorer with six goals alongside team-mate Andrey Santos. 

Comfortable playing off the striker or through the middle, Vitor Roque will join a Barcelona side who, despite winning LaLiga by 10 points in 2022/23, were outscored by Real Madrid.

Robert Lewandowski, who turns 35 next month, was easily the team's top scorer with 23 goals in Spain's top flight last term as Ansu Fati and Vitor Roque's compatriot Raphinha lagged behind in joint-second place on seven goals apiece. 

Barcelona kick off their title defence at Getafe on Sunday 13 August.