After Real Madrid striker Endrick's loan move to Manchester United was ruled out, the name of another Brazilian has started doing the rounds. 20-year-old Vitor Roque was rumoured to be on the radar of the Red Devils after he regained his goal-scoring skills at Palmeiras, and Benjamin Sesko suffering a knock further intensified the speculations.
Endrick and Vitor Roque were said to be the next big things in Brazilian football. Their respective transfers to Real Madrid and FC Barcelona further spiced things up. However, neither could live up to expectations in Europe, with Endrick having been reduced to a benchwarmer at Bernabéu under Xabi Alonso and Roque heading back to his homeland after a loan move to Betis. Endrick, too, is expected to secure a loan deal in January to stay sharp ahead of the World Cup year.
Ever since his return to Brazil, Vitor Roque has managed 20 goals and 5 assists for Palmeiras from just 52 appearances. To put things into context, he had secured only seven goals and two assists for Real Betis from 33 outings and two goals for Barcelona in 16. The striker has thus proved that he is past the rough patch.
While the "Endrick to Manchester United" died away over time, the one involving Roque lingered on (The 19-year-old is expected to join Marseille in winter). In the backdrop of Sesko's unavailability, some reports said that Chelsea and United could enter a bidding war to get the forward. However, a fresh report said that neither English side is likely to approach Palmeiras in January, and the player, too, is not keen on a return to Europe immediately.
Why Vitor Roque wants to stay put?
Carlo Ancelotti, who is the national team coach of Brazil, had recently praised Vitor Roque's performances. The former Real Madrid manager said that there was a real possibility of him finding a place in the Brazil squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. In this backdrop, Roque is not willing to take chances with another ambitious switch. He would rather keep his head down and focus on scoring more goals for Palmeiras to keep his chances of making the squad alive, TeamTalk claimed.
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The portal also said that Rúben Amorim is said to hand Joshua Zirkzee starts until Sesko is fit to start again. As the United medical staff are convinced that he will not be unavailable for long, the club is unlikely to enter the market in January. Even Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo's Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) assignments have not convinced Amorim to bring in another striker in January, reports said. A new striker will be bought only if Sesko's condition worsens, and unless that happens, Zirkzee will remain Amorim's target man in the box, TeamTalk said.