BREKING NEWS: Al-Hilal to battle West Ham for Aston Villa’s talent after Roque rejection

Barcelona’s Brazilian forward Vitor Roque has turned down an approach from Saudi giants Al-Hilal who will switch their attention to Aston Villa’s star.

Roque was set for a Saudi Arabia move after Barcelona officials gave their approval for the departure of the prodigious talent, according to Arriyadiyah. Yet, Roque’s insistence to continue playing in Europe halted the deal.

The Catalan giants had hoped to convince Roque to join Al-Hilal as they refuse to loan the player and only want to sell him to recoup some financial value, which could help them mitigate their well-known financial difficulties.

Barcelona signed the 19-year-old in the summer of 2023 from Athletico Paranaense for €40 million; however, unfortunately for the Brazilian, his transfer did not work out as he only scored two goals in a total of 310 minutes played.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, this led Al-Hilal to turn their attention towards Colombian forward Jhon Durán of Aston Villa, but again, the Saudis won’t have him easily.

Durán, 20, has an offer from West Ham and is pushing for the deal to take place, but the Hammers are yet to reach an agreement with Aston Villa.

Al-Hilal are yet to make a major summer signing, with all their foreign players from last season still at the club, including Renan Lodi, Michael, Neymar., Sergej Milinkovic Savic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Yassine Bounou, and Ruben Neves.

The Saudi champions are trying to keep their squad refreshed in their bid to retain the league title and return the AFC Champions League title to Riyadh.