His arrival, however, had all the air of a winter blockbuster. It has now been almost a year since a certain Vítor Manuel Carvalho Oliveira packed up his bags to leave Braga and settle in Marseille in exchange for a rather golden envelope of 25 million euros (+ 7 million euros in bonuses). The Portuguese striker, Vitinha, therefore arrived at OM with a status that was far from easy to assume since his transfer today remains the most expensive in the history of the Marseille club ahead of Dimitri Payet. The wait was actually quite long before seeing the Portuguese shake the nets. Indeed, the native of Cabeceiras de Basto scored his first and second goal in his new colors, on April 16, 2023 against Troyes in the championship at the Vélodrome stadium. A great performance so hoped for by the people of Marseille after three months of scarcity in the Marseille jersey.
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For his first full season at OM, things improved but without ever maintaining a certain consistency in his performances. Indeed, at mid-season, Vitinha had 3 goals and 2 assists in 17 matches played in Ligue 1 with OM. Also note the irregular copies made in the Europa League group stages where he only scored once against AEK Athens. A situation that weighs on the player personally: “It hasn’t always been easy. Things don’t always go the way we want them to. Results don’t always come. This is a moment like that that I experienced. The coach noticed it. I was actually a little sad even though I am a jovial person, with the joy of living. People helped me to be happy, happy with people”declared the 23-year-old Portuguese at the beginning of December.
Read OM: medical visit scheduled in Ivory Coast for Faris Moumbagna
The market of l’OM commands Vitinha…
But the future of Vitinha could well be written far from Bouches-du-Rhône. OM have arrived in force in a file in recent days and are preparing to crush the competition for the signature of Faris Moumbagna. The negotiations were carried out perfectly discreetly by the management trio composed of Pablo Longoria, Mehdi Benatia and Stéphane Tessier. According to information from our colleagues at RMC Sport, his arrival in Marseille would even be imminent. An agreement between the Marseille club and FK Bodø/Glimt was reached for an amount of around 8 million euros. A four and a half year contract awaits the native of Yaoundé. This is a big blow for the Marseillais who are enlisting a powerful and complete attacker here to perfectly complete OM’s offensive rotation which should thus be well-rounded for the development of Vitinha. The latter will have to face competition now made up of the rookie Moumbagna, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ismaïla Sarr, Joaquin Correa, Iliman Ndiaye but also the young François Mughe. The planned signing of Faris Moumbagna therefore seems to sound the death knell for Vitinha’s Marseille adventure, even if there are numerous deadlines for OM in the coming weeks.
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But despite a fog on the horizon, the Portuguese striker can count on unwavering support from his coach, Gennaro Gattuso, who has continued to come to the front to defend him: “As for Vitinha, since my arrival he has played a lot. This change in system did him good. He can do well, he has very specific characteristics, he knows how to keep the ball and knows how to occupy the opponent with pressing. Vitinha is an OM player, so I expect him to give his all. We’ll see what happens next. But I show him day after day that he is important to me, in the way I treat him”, explained the former Napoli coach. According to Gattuso, the transfer fee installed additional pressure in Vitinha’s mind, a label the 23-year-old suffers from. Let’s now see what the end of January will portend for the Portuguese striker who could liven up the end of the Marseille transfer window. One thing is certain, the management of the Marseille club will not retain its Lusitanian international hopeful in the event of a good offer, especially since there have been signs of interest in him since the beginning of January. Enough to let him go? Response maximum by January 31…
Pub. 01/16/2024 10:56 p.m. Updated 01/16/2024 11:36 p.m.
2024-01-16 21:56:33
#future #Vitinha
