Who is Vitinha? PSG's €40m new signing

Suraj Radia

Updated: 30 Jun 2022 22:57 BST
3 min read

Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed the signing of Porto midfielder Vitinha after activating his €40 million release clause.

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Vitinha has joined on a five-year deal and has become the first signing of the Luis Campos era at PSG.

The 22-year-old spent the 2020/21 season on loan at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, but the Midlands outfit opted against taking up their £17m option to make the deal permanent.

Vitinha has since gone on to break into the Porto first-team as well as Portugal's senior side and has left the Primeira Liga champions this summer.

What position does Vitinha play in?

Vitinha is a right-footed central midfielder who can also play as a defensive pivot as well as further forward.

How good is Vitinha?

Following a disappointing loan spell at Wolves where he only made five league starts, Vitinha broke into Porto's first team last season.

Vitinha was a crucial player for Porto as they won the league again this season, with only three outfielders playing more minutes than him throughout the campaign.

He scored twice and grabbed three assists as well as winning the league's player of the month award in both December and January.

He is known for his ability on the ball, boasting one of the best dribble success rates in Europe at 72.7% as well as as being able to carve defences open with passes into the final third.

Vitinha has represented Portugal at youth level, captaining various teams, and was named in the team of the tournament for the under-21 European Championships in 2021.

He received his first call-up to Portugal's senior side earlier in 2022 and has been capped three times.

Vitinha completed more final third passes than any other player during the 2021/22 Primeira Liga season.

◎ 30 games played
◎ 622 final ⅓ passes attempted
◉ 522 final ⅓ passes completed

Dictating the tempo. 🐉 pic.twitter.com/NG9Q3bQBkY
— Squawka (@Squawka) June 15, 2022

What clubs are interested in Vitinha?

Man Utd were believed to be the front-runners for Vitinha's signature and were working on a deal to bring the midfielder to Old Trafford in addition to Barcelona's Frenkie De Jong.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City were all also been linked with moves for Vitinha in the past but they weren't considering an approach for him this summer.

However, PSG won the race for his signature after activating his release clause.