Vitinha’s ‘crazy’ statement to Wolves teammate that proved he’d become the world’s best
Not scoring more than once in any game was the only thing still connecting Vitinha to Wolves – until he faced Tottenham.
The 25-year-old put that particular record in the bin after bagging a hat-trick in Paris Saint-Germain‘s 5-3 victory over Spurs.
His heroics were lauded by everyone from PSG manager Luis Enrique to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who served as a UEFA Technical Observer.
Vitinha has continued where he left off from last season, having been instrumental in his club claiming a maiden Champions League title.
He completed more passes than any other player in Europe last year, with 1294, while boasting a stunning success rate of 93.6 per cent.
Enrique named him PSG’s best player while Mbappe was still at the club, and he deservedly secured a Ballon d’Or podium in September.
From Wolves flop to world’s best midfielder
Following his standout showing last week, Spurs boss Frank predicted ‘best midfielder in the world’ Vitinha as the next Golden Ball winner.
However, few outside of the player himself could have predicted such a meteoric rise since struggling on loan at Wolves four years ago.
The then 20-year-old arrived at Molineux from boyhood club Porto for the 2020/21 season, with an option to buy for £17million.
But Wolves didn’t make his move permanent, with Vitinha unable to dislodge Portuguese compatriots Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves.
He registered just 22 appearances under Nuno Espirito Santo, with his only goal coming against Chorley in the FA Cup.
Vitinha next Ballon d’Or winner
Regardless of his struggles at Wolves, Vitinha remained steadfast in his belief that he would bounce back to reach his current heights.
“I kind of feel a bit hard ticking off Wolves for the fact that it didn’t really happen with Vitinha,” European football expert Andy Brassell explained exclusively to talkSPORT.com.
“Fernando Marçal, who used to play for Wolves, got on quite well with Vitinha, being fellow Portuguese speakers.
“Marçal was trying to sort of comfort him about the fact that it wasn’t going that well.
“And Vitinha went, ‘Oh, it’s fine, I’ll just go back to Portugal. I’ll smash it at Porto for a year, and then I’ll end up playing for one of the best, five or 10 clubs in the world.’
“Marçal looked at him and thought, what? You can’t even get the Wolves team. But it turned out that’s exactly what he did.
“Vitinha always had this drive and this plan and this confidence in what he was going to be able to do.”
His ‘crazy’ statement to Wolves teammate
As Botafogo star Marçal puts it, Vitinha was unable to follow West Ham boss Nuno’s instructions while in possession.
“The coach was difficult with him. Even though he did incredible things in training, he couldn’t convince him. Santo wanted Vitinha to play simple, to release the ball more quickly. He tried to comply, but he also didn’t want to lose his identity,” Marçal told L’Equipe.
“One day, I asked him: ‘What do you think you’re going to do next season?’ He was on loan from Porto, but he needed to make 20 starts for Wolverhampton to be forced to buy him. He wasn’t there,” he added.
“He replied: ‘Marçal, I’m going back to Porto, smash everything there, and the following season, I’ll go to one of the eight best clubs in Europe.’ I said to myself: ‘Wow, the guy doesn’t play at Wolverhampton, and he thinks he’s going to sign for Manchester City or some club like that? He’s a bit crazy!’ But no, he wasn’t.”
Vitinha, who made only five Premier League starts for Wolves, was limited to just 711 minutes during his short stint in England.
Yet he then helped Porto to a domestic double upon his return while being named Primeira Liga Best Young Player of the Year.
Vitinha joined PSG in June 2022, with Enrique’s arrival the following year allowing him to flourish as the focal point of his system.
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