West Ham and Spurs-linked striker Vitinha bagged a 21-minute hat-trick for Braga on Thursday, just two days before the start of the January transfer window.
The two London clubs were linked to Vítor Manuel Carvalho Oliveira, commonly known as Vitinha, in November by Calciomercato.
That report came soon after the 21-year-old had bagged four goals in a 6-0 hammering of Santa Clara in the Taca de Portugal.
West Ham and Spurs target nets hat-trick
On Thursday night, he produced a similarly impressive display away at Arouca in the Primeira Liga.
Braga won 6-0 once again and Vitinha scored their first three goals on the night.
His first, in the fifth minute, was very fortuitous. He inadvertently diverted a teammate’s strike from the edge of the area past a wrong-footed opposition goalkeeper.
The other two goals featured good forward play, though.
His second came in the 12th minute, when he stayed onside and then reacted first to a parry from the keeper to tap home from close range.
His third, in the 26th minute, was the pick of the bunch.
After being slipped in on the right side of the area, Vitinha sped away from a defender and drilled a finish between the keeper’s legs to put the result beyond all doubt.
He was eventually taken off in the 76th minute, but his main work had been completed much earlier in the night and he could hardly have timed his hat-trick any better given that the January window is just around the corner.
Vitinha exciting but still raw
A word of warning about this striker for West Ham and Spurs fans, though.
Vitinha may be turning 22 in less than two months’ time, but he’s still very inexperienced and prior to this hammering of Arouca, he only had one Portuguese top-flight goal to his name.
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