Football – Ligue 1. Paris announces the signing of Vitinha, midfielder from Porto

Paris Saint-Germain launched its summer transfer window on Thursday by attracting the first recruit of its new era, the young Portuguese midfielder Vitinha, pending the end of the coaching waltz which should lead to the replacement of Mauricio Pochettino by Christophe Galtier.

More than a month after the resounding announcement of Kylian Mbappé’s extension until 2025, the starting point for a new page of the Qatari version of PSG, the capital club finally has a reinforcement for its professional group.

At 22, the promising midfielder Vitinha signed up for five seasons with FC Porto, where his technical qualities and vision of the game opened the doors to the Portuguese selection (3 selections). The amount of the transfer, not disclosed by PSG, is estimated by the specialized press at 40 million euros.

Trained at FC Porto and also on loan from Wolverhampton during the 2020-21 season, Vitinha has four national titles with Porto (two championships and two cups).

He also won the Youth League in 2019, the equivalent of the Champions League among young people, and reached the Euro Espoirs final in 2021 with the Portuguese Under-21s.

Christophe Galtier soon to be inducted as a coach

Expected in the midfield to support the Italian Marco Verratti, Vitinha could soon be followed by his compatriot Renato Sanches (Lille), or even the Ivorian Seko Fofana, author of a good season with RC Lens in the same position, according to the specialized press.

The Portuguese, who passed his medical examination on Wednesday, also becomes the first recruit of the new sports adviser Luis Campos, also Portuguese and appointed on June 10 to replace the Brazilian sports director Leonardo, whose dismissal, recorded at the end of May after the ultimate Ligue 1 day, was never officially announced.

This signing of a young player supposed to represent the future of PSG is part of the new sports policy of the club which wants to be less « bling-bling », as promised by President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.

The latter has nevertheless still not officially confirmed Christophe Galtier as future coach, an announcement suspended from negotiations with Mauricio Pochettino to find a financial agreement allowing the departure of the Argentine coach and his staff.

Will the former Nice technician be inducted before the resumption of training for the champions of France (apart from the internationals) set for Monday July 4? In the meantime, PSG and OGC Nice have agreed on the amount of the check paid to the Riviera club, estimated between 4 and 5 million euros according to a source familiar with the matter, to buy back the last two years of the contract of the coach crowned champion of France 2021 with Lille.