After a recent breakthrough in talks, Genoa and Marseille have sealed an agreement for Vitinha to move to Marassi permanently. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Serie A club will pay the French outfit a reported fee of €15 million to sign the Portuguese forward.
Vitinha joined Genoa on a short-term loan with an option to buy in January following a miserable year in Ligue 1. Marseille poured around €32m into Sporting Braga’s bank accounts to land the 24-year-old in the winter of 2023. However, he never found his footing at the Stade Velodrome.
After registering a meager six goals and chipped in with four assists in 43 matches in all competitions for Marseille, Vitinha left for Genoa last winter to revive his career. Unfortunately, recurring injury problems have plagued his first six months at the club, restricting him to only nine league appearances.
Despite his relatively sparse game time, Vitinha fared well for Genoa, netting twice in 279 minutes of top-flight action. It was seemingly enough to land him a permanent contract at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, with head coach Alberto Gilardino enthusiastic to work with the forward next term.
Though they were initially supposed to hand over around €25m to purchase Vitinha, the Italians have drawn the price down and will part with ‘only’ €15m. It’s still mysterious how Genoa managed to secure such a significant discount.
Some reports say Genoa allowed Marseille to include a favorable buyback clause in case Vitinha rediscovers his form in Serie A.
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