How Vitinha Went from Underrated to Unstoppable at PSG | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain closed out the 2023-24 season in memorable fashion, edging Olympique Lyonnais 2-1 in the Coupe de France final to secure their first domestic treble in six years (not including the 2019-20 season, which was truncated halfway through the campaign). Ousmane Dembélé broke the deadlock at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Fabián Ruiz doubled the scoring in Lille, whilst Kylian Mbappé appeared for the 308th and final time in a Rouge-et-Bleu kit. However, there was one player in particular who PSG manager Luis Enrique decided to highlight in his victorious post-match press conference:

“For me, Vitinha was undoubtedly our player of the season. If you add up his quality on the ball, his aggressiveness, and his ability to defend, he is our best player. All of our players here are good, but Vitinha is exceptional.”

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Born in Santo Tirso, Portugal, Vitinha developed at Porto’s academy and played a crucial role in their successful conquest of the 2018-19 UEFA Youth League title. After making just eight appearances for Porto’s first team, Vitinha was loaned out to Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers for the 2020-21 season, where he struggled for minutes under Nuno Espírito Santo, prompting them to decline their €20 million purchase option.

Vitinha did, however, emerge as a revelation in Portugal’s run to the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final, where they lost to Germany, and even being named in the Team of the Tournament. This provoked the attention of Porto manager Sérgio Conceição, who, after previously ignoring him, started to play him regularly. Vitinha became an indispensable cog in central midfield as Porto claimed the league title and the Taça de Portugal, racking up a league-record 91 points. He enjoyed a breakout campaign at the Estádio do Dragão, being named in the 2021/22 Primeira Liga Team of the Year and awarded the Primeira Liga Best Young Player of the Year.

It wasn’t long before Europe’s biggest clubs came calling, with Paris Saint-Germain triggering his €41.5 million release clause and signing him to a five-year deal. After a promising start to life under Christophe Galtier, Vitinha struggled in the second half of the season after reportedly coming to blows with Lionel Messi on the training ground. He was also reportedly the target of Neymar’s outburst after a 3-1 loss to Monaco, who complained that the squad had been significantly weakened with the arrival of players such as Vitinha. These incidents took a toll on Vitinha, who lost his starting place and started to look like a fish out of water at the Parc des Princes.

However, PSG kept their faith in the Portuguese international whilst also deciding to ways with Messi and Neymar in the summer of 2023. Vitinha was able to gain the trust of new manager Luis Enrique and excel in a deep-lying midfield role, winning the Man of the Match award for his stellar display vs. Borussia Dortmund in Matchday One of the UEFA Champions League season. He scored in both legs as PSG turned around a two-goal deficit and beat Barcelona 6-4 to book their ticket to the Champions League semifinals, where they lost to Borussia Dortmund. Vitinha enjoyed his most prolific campaign to date, racking up 9 goals and 5 assists and being included in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year and the Champions League Team of the Tournament.

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