How much FFP margin do Barca need to register Vitor Roque in January?

FC Barcelona are working to obtain fair play margin in the winter transfer window in order to make some adjustments to the squad. In principle, the move would be to try to register Vitor Roque, although there are other options on the table.

If the situation were to be more or less normal, the arrival of the Brazilian in winter would be the priority for Xavi Hernández and the sports area. But other scenarios have to be taken into account. If there are injuries in midfield, the club would study the possibility of signing a midfielder, preferably with defensive ability. On the other hand, the club would like to amend the situation of Gavi, who is currently registered thanks to a precautionary measure. This implies a risk that Barça would like to eliminate, although the Catalan club does not rule out the possibility of reaching an agreement with the league on this issue.

In any case, Barça have already taken the calculator out and, after consulting with La Liga, they are clear on how much wage space they need to generate in order to proceed to register Vitor Roque. Provided they have first received the 40 million pending from Libero - or any other fund - so as not to deviate from the famous viability plan.

The Catalan giants estimate that in order to sign Roque they need to generate 13-14 million in fair play margin. The striker's salary is slim, especially in his first season, but there would also be a depreciation charge, so the cost would be more than 10m. 

A sale would be the quickest way to obtain this margin, but the club is not thinking of selling anyone at the moment. The squad is rather short and recent injuries have shown that one more departure could leave Xavi very unprotected in terms of personnel. Another avenue is a deferred renewal. The club would like De Jong to extend his deal, but at this stage nothing is advanced and other options are being considered.

Registering Gavi under La Liga's criteria would require similar fair play margin, so if Barça wanted to solve the two cases in one fell swoop, they would have to make a wage saving of around 25 million euros.