Several reports link Vitinha to a move to the Premier League club Manchester United but his previous spell in the league suggests he won’t add much to the squad under the new boss at the helm, Erik Ten Hag.
According to the Portuguese news outlet Record, Manchester United and also Arsenal can pay the release clause for Vitinha. His current club Porto set his release clause at £35 million. The 22 year old had a breakthrough season for the Portuguese club. He played a key part in Sérgio Conceição’s side to the Liga NOS title.
On the other hand, Manchester United already lost Juan Mata, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Nemanja Matic. Their contracts will expire at the end of June and the club and the players mutually decided not to renew them. Now, it is clear that the new Dutch boss at Old Trafford needs to reinforce its midfield. Their prime target for that position is already Frenkie de Jong of FC Barcelona. Both Ten Hag and de Jong worked together previously when they were a part of Ajax Amsterdam.
Vitinha in Premier League
Other than that, reports also linked Vitinha with the club. But his past outings in the Premier League suggest that he won’t offer much under Ten Hag. In Vitinha’s last spell in the Premier League, he made just five starts and 14 substitute appearances for Wolves, in which he contributed no goals and one assist, averaging a less than impressive 6.26 rating from WhoScored.
For comparison, Matic, who has been reunited with Jose Mourinho at Roma after leaving Old Trafford, would average a 6.63 rating from WhoScored last season. He even contributed four assists from defensive midfield.
Although Vitinha averaged a 7.23 rating from WhoScored last term, it was for a title-winning side and a relatively weaker league. Now it is up to Ten Hag if he decides to go for him and pay the £35m release clause.
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