The Premier League side who could have signed Vitinha for just £17m before £34m PSG move
03/12/2025 09:45 AM
Vitinha stole the show for PSG against Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday evening.
The Portugal international delivered a midfield masterclass to ensure the Parisians progressed into the UEFA Champions League quarter-final on penalties, after a 1-0 win on the night.
PSG’s No.17 completed 103 of his attempted 111 passes to record a success rate of 93% – which is no easy feat inside a raucous Anfield on European nights.
Furthermore, the man from Vila das Aves was impeccable defensively as well, recording six clearances, five tackles, three interceptions and one block.
However – had life turned out differently – Vitinha could have been playing his football at Wolves right now.
Why Wolves ignored chance to sign Vitinha for just £17m
Back in the 2020/21 campaign, Wolves actually took the Portuguese playmaker on loan from Porto – who even agreed to let the Old Gold have a £17m option to turn the deal permanent.
However – according to The Athletic – Wolves were unconvinced about spending £17m on Vitinha after a season in which he failed to settle into a position within Nuno Espirito Santo’s preferred 3-4-3 system.
The midfielder was afforded just 511 minutes of Premier League football that term, and even once Bruno Lage had replaced Nuno, everybody at Molineux was still in agreement that £17m represented too large a gamble.
Just 12 months after that decision was made, Vitinha, who Thierry Henry adores, moved to PSG in a £34m deal – where he is now five games away from potentially becoming a European champion.
Ian Wright wants Vitinha at Arsenal
The 25-year-old is now so good, he could probably choose to play for any club on the planet.
If Ian Wright had his way – however – the PSG maestro would be playing in N5.
Vitinha has the best final third pass success rate (90%) of any midfielder in the #UCL this season (200+ passes). 🎯 pic.twitter.com/2iUHq27Fmx
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) March 12, 2025
Wright admires Vitinha, telling the Wrighty's House Podcast: “(We need) a player like Vitinha from PSG. I know what you're saying about Odegaard and Rice, but you're talking about someone with the X factor that we need. We have a load of good players, but that X factor, out of the blue, bang, we need to find that man.”
Ultimately, Wolves will be the ones kicking themselves for sending one of Europe’s greatest midfielders away from the Midlands.
