While he now shines at Paris Saint-Germain (joining in 2022), Vitinha has also experienced difficulties during his career. For example, the 25-year-old midfielder failed to make an impact at Wolverhampton while on loan from FC Porto for the 2020-2021 season. Romain Saïss, the 35-year-old Al-Sadd midfielder who knew him at the English club, spoke to L’Equipe about this period.
Saïss “But he didn’t balk at the work”.
“Technically, he was already at ease. Today, he stands up to duels. Back then, much less so. He plays a bit like Verratti, with three or four touches before releasing the ball. If you don’t resist physically in England, you get knocked back. And the refereeing doesn’t always help. That’s what he lacked, even in training. He’d take one touch too many and boom! But he didn’t balk at the work.
Saïss “it’s pretty brutal.
He’s young, he’s changing country, culture and Championship, which isn’t easy enough, especially since leaving Portugal for Birmingham is pretty brutal. But on top of that, we’re in the middle to the end of the Covid, with no one in the stadiums. It’s bad enough that when you change countries, you rarely see your family, but this time, with the restrictions, it’s even more complicated.
He’s a great guy who didn’t stay in his corner. He chatted with everyone because he was already fluent in English, and even got by quite well in French.”
Of course, a change of club has its difficulties. You have to adapt to a new life, with perhaps a “connection” that doesn’t take place as expected in the team’s game. It’s all the more difficult with a change of country. And the Covid period may have been particularly tough.
We can also see from all this that a complicated period, even if it lasts a whole season, doesn’t mean that a player can’t progress later on. Sometimes within the same club, sometimes elsewhere. Nor does it mean that there was a clear error in the transfer. There’s always uncertainty and everything can happen very quickly in soccer.
The main thing for Vitinha was not to give up. He never lost confidence and fought hard to finally show his qualities. This experience has also served him well, as there’s always something to learn.
