On Tuesday, a very interesting situation took place in the Portuguese media, where three of the biggest sport newspapers all hinted that Manchester United were interested in FC Porto’s Vitinha.
We collated all those reports in one article, which you can find here, and now A Bola on Wednesday leave little doubt in anyone’s mind: the Red Devils want the midfielder.
In fact, they say so in their opening line, claiming ‘there is no doubt that Manchester United are the colossus that is positioned to trigger Vitinha’s clause of €40m’.
They explain the player’s love affair with the Premier League ‘is intense’, as Newcastle were the first to tick the 22-year-old’s name.
However, the Magpies don’t appear to have placed Vitinha in their list of priorities, but Manchester United, ‘armed with exhaustive reports since March, appear to be ready to fire quickly to tie up the influential midfielder’.
They go as far as saying the Portugal international ‘fits like a glove in the game ideas that Erik ten Hag intends to put into practice at Old Trafford’, where they are ‘seduced by the fluidity, power of movement and decision making’ he has to offer.
As for the price, it’s made clear Porto ‘will have no arguments to prevent his departure if Manchester United or another giant wave €40m’ at them.
That’s his clause, but that doesn’t mean their fans, already feeling the club undersold Luis Diaz to Liverpool, will be happy about it.
It would be preferable for Vitinha to have a higher release clause, and ‘there is a lack of understanding as to why a renewal hasn’t been drawn up in the last season’, where he has excelled under Sérgio Conceição.
Then again, one club’s loss is another’s gain, and if Manchester United have the €40m to spare, they have an easy transfer ahead of them.
