Tied down at Paris Saint-Germain with a contract running until 2029, Vitinha continues to be linked with Real Madrid by the Spanish press, which has published new, rather unconvincing information on the case in recent days.

For nearly a year now, the Madrid press, orphaned by Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, has fueled the idea of a resounding transfer of Vitinha to Real Madrid in the near future. Quite logical in itself since the Madrid club has a real creative deficit in midfield and a prestige that allows it to dream of any player.

The problem for Real Madrid is that Vitinha has been under contract with PSG until 2029 since his extension in February 2025. The Portuguese midfielder is not in the Top 5 of the highest Parisian salaries (he would be sixth with €900,000 gross per month), but he saw his compensation significantly increase during his last extension and will undoubtedly be entitled to another revaluation in the medium term if he continues on his current trajectory.

Since last summer, the Vitinha-to-Real-Madrid rumor has rested essentially on a dubious claim by several Spanish media outlets that the Portuguese player has a release clause at PSG, oscillating between €90 million and €100 million starting in the summer of 2026. In France, release clauses are not recognized by the LFP (French Football League), but there are indeed means for players and French clubs to sign private clauses to separate the player's contract, approved by the LFP, and one or more clauses that are not necessarily regulatory in the eyes of the League.

According to the Spanish press, Vitinha would therefore have signed such a clause with PSG, allowing him to leave the club for a certain sum, which the Iberian media estimate between €90 million and €100 million. This week, the famous Spanish radio station La Cadena SER repeated this information, initially launched by a not very respectable Madrid "insider" and subsequently relayed by several major Madrid media outlets like Marca or AS.

"The footballer has an exit clause in his private contract with PSG. Vitinha knows it, the Parisian team knows it, and the Spanish team now knows it too. The operation would cost around €100 million if it were to materialize... and Real Madrid is waiting for the player to make a move in the coming months to start the first negotiations," claims Pacojo Delgado, a journalist for this Spanish radio station, this week.

According to him, it is up to Vitinha "to tell (PSG) that a club wants to make an offer for him, and that he agrees with this offer. If that doesn't happen, there will be no possibility despite the private contract." If we believe this theory, it would therefore be enough for the Portuguese maestro to go to Nasser Al-Khelaifi and tell him that Real Madrid wants to buy him for the major maneuvers to begin.

But who can believe this theory? PSG has proven in recent years that it is capable of retaining any player under contract, and it is hard to imagine Doha having agreed to include such a clause during Vitinha's last extension. It is also hard to imagine PSG agreeing to sell its conductor, even for an enormous sum, especially to a club like Real Madrid, with whom relations have been far from cordial in recent years.

Furthermore, Vitinha has repeatedly stated in recent months that he is very happy at PSG, with whom he has won everything, and the only time he mentioned the idea of a possible departure was to talk about his desire to one day return to the Premier League, where he did not succeed in establishing himself during his loan to Wolverhampton. "I feel very well where I am. I love being where I am, and I love my coach. That's all. It's important to say that," Vitinha also confided to A Bola at the end of December.

So far, the story of Vitinha's famous clause at PSG has never been confirmed by the French press, nor by serious journalists specialized in the transfer market. Real Madrid is known, like Barcelona, for its ability to use its media relays to destabilize competing clubs by fueling rumors about their star players. We clearly seem to be in this case here.

A follower of Real Madrid for The Athletic, a very serious English-language site owned by The New York Times, Spanish journalist Mario Cortegana took stock of Real Madrid's winter transfer window, which ended with... zero arrivals and just one departure, that of Endrick on loan to Lyon. Real Madrid rarely recruits in the winter window and strongly prefers the summer one.

It is common knowledge in Spain that Real Madrid will try to recruit a defensive midfielder this summer, and The Athletic confirms that Real Madrid appreciates Vitinha a lot. But this source, which also mentions Madrid's interest in Enzo Fernandez (whose name was linked to PSG this winter), believes that both the Portuguese and the Argentine will be nearly impossible, as both are locked down by long-term contracts at clubs that are not sellers and have significant economic power. This source also does not confirm the story of Vitinha's supposed release clause at PSG.

La Cadena SER, in its article on Vitinha, also acknowledges that this lead will be very complicated for Real Madrid to finalize, and that the club is already studying several alternatives, such as one leading to Rodri (Manchester City). The Athletic also mentions Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Kees Smit (AZ), and Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace) and reveals that AZ has given Jorge Mendes, Vitinha's agent, a mandate to sell the promising Kees Smit, 20, this summer for around €60 million.

Finally, Vitinha has repeatedly stated that he has been very fulfilled since the sporting shift made by PSG in 2023 and the arrival of Luis Enrique, emphasizing his joy at being part of a real collective. Does he really want to find himself amidst all the egos at Real Madrid and share his daily life again with Kylian Mbappe, in particular? One can logically doubt it.

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