Southampton fans, let’s take you back to the January transfer window of 2023, back when the St Mary’s club was still in the Premier League.
The Saints wanted a new striker, and one of the names targeted was Vitinha, then at SC Braga in Portugal, who eventually moved to Marseille for a €32m package.
That was a lot of money for the player at the time, and, according to L’Equipe, the reason the Ligue 1 side went so high was because of Southampton.
The move never worked out, and the player has since been shipped out on loan to Genoa with an option to buy at €25m.
The French newspaper look at what happened behind the scenes for Marseille to spend so much on a largely unproven talent who had only recently impressed.
They explain that Braga were initially asking for €15m, with bonuses potentially taking it to €20m, but the French side, needing a new striker after selling Bamba Dieng to Lorient, were desperate.
That, going hand in hand with Southampton making a ‘higher bid’ led to them pulling out all the stops and putting on Braga’s table that €32m package, which included €5-7m in bonuses.
