On Tuesday we covered multiple claims from the Portuguese media regarding FC Porto’s Vitinha.
All of the major sport newspapers, Record, A Bola and O Jogo, carried similar reports. It was stated a Premier League club is ready to pay the midfielder’s €40m clause, with Manchester United the only club named by any of them.
It wasn’t explicitly stated the Red Devils were set to pay that amount, yet that was the very clear hint being given.
Wednesday saw A Bola drop their shyness, and they just spat it out: ‘There is no doubt that Manchester United are the colossus that is positioned to trigger Vitinha’s clause of €40m.’
Thursday’s edition of O Jogo covers comments made by Porto president Pinto da Costa. On the sidelines of an event with the club’s new main sponsor, Da Costa was asked about Vitinha given the current claims about Manchester United.
He’s quoted as saying: “There was a concrete offer of considerable value for Vitinha. We did not accept and refer to the termination clause, which is the only way to take the player from us. If they come with a euro below Vitinha’s release clause, he doesn’t leave.”Da Costa didn’t say the offer was from Manchester United, but the Red Devils are again mentioned in the report. O Jogo also say there’s been claims around Arsenal and Barcelona.
The situation on price now seems clear, it’s €40m for Vitinha and not a euro less.
