In a recent report, Foot Mercato revealed that Aston Villa were among the clubs hoping to land Vitinha last month. It has been mentioned that the Villans were facing competition from Southampton in the race to land the Portuguese attacker who ended up joining Olympique Marseille on deadline day.
Vitinha’s Impressive Form At The Municipal Stadium of Braga
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a productive campaign with Braga in Portuguese football as he has put in a run of impressive displays as the focal point of their attack. Vitinha has featured in 27 matches for the Portuguese club this season, finding the back of the net 13 times and picking up five assists across various competitions.
The Portugal Under-21 international has led the line well for Braga based on his average of 2.8 shots, 0.9 key passes and 1.2 dribbles per game in Liga Portugal. However, he lacks quality when distributing possession in the final third, as evidenced by his pass completion rate of 71.7% in top-flight football (stats via whoscored).
Aston Villa were in dire need of more firepower but ended up failing to get Vitinha on board during the January transfer window.
Should Aston Villa Boss Unai Emery Move In For Vitinha In The Future?
Vitinha is proficient at creating space for himself to get a few strikes in at goal. He has got the vision to engineer a few decent chances for his teammates in the final third. Vitinha is primarily a centre-forward but can also fill in as a secondary striker alongside someone else in the final third if needed.
More importantly, the Portuguese sensation has proven himself to be a prolific goal-scorer in front of the opponent’s goal. Thus, it makes sense for Unai Emery to move in for someone like Vitinha in the future as he is capable of offering some decent competition for Ollie Watkins in the race to secure a regular starting spot at Villa Park next season.
We can expect Vitinha to inject more goals into Emery’s attack at the West Midlands club. He could even help the Villans challenge for a European spot in the Premier League over the next few seasons. However, there are some question marks on whether he can cope with the physical side and high intensity of Premier League football.
With all things considered, Vitinha would be a good option for Aston Villa to consider as long as they can get him for a fair price from Marseille at the end of this campaign.
