Despite Vitinha leaving Braga to join Marseille, it’s well known that a few Premier League sides tried to sign the striker on the final days of the transfer window, with Brighton & Hove Albion included.
It was reported that the Seagulls were one of the clubs whose offer was enough to cover his €30m release clause, but the player himself turned them down to join the French club.
It turns out that as Portuguese newspaper Record today features a few stories about what happened this week, they claim it were actually Brighton who gave up on that deal.
It’s said the Seagulls moved for Vitinha still on the 30rd, with two bids made before lunch, and even ‘scheduled’ a flight for that evening for him to travel on.
Record adds that Brighton make signings based on an algorithm, and the Portuguese player had the ‘approval’.
Their intention to sign Vitinha was so serious that the player even had two planes waiting for him: one scheduled for England and another for France, but with the Seagulls giving up, he ended up taking the second.
