Could Vinicius Junior to Arsenal actually happen?
Those noises just aren’t going away. It would be one of the most audacious transfers in Premier League history, but as reigning champions and with Vinicius only having a year left on his contract at Real Madrid, Arsenal will feel they deserve to be in with an outside chance at least.
And the latest reports suggest that, while he’d prefer to extend his stay in the Spanish capital, he’d be up for a move to north London. There are even whispers of an agreement in principle on personal terms.
You might be wondering: why? What do Arsenal have to offer that would be better than what Vinicius has currently got in Madrid?
We’ve racked our brains to pick out some reasons for Vini Jr to make the move.
Prove he can perform in the Premier League
We hear you – Vinicius Junior does not need to prove himself. Eight years with Real Madrid, more than 100 goals and being a Ballon d’Or runner up in 2024 doesn’t exactly match up with the description of a player who needs to prove themselves, or for whom testing themselves in the Premier League would be seen as a step up.
Vinicius has been playing among the upper echelons of the game for almost all of his career. But with that, there has been a degree of comfort around his status as a Real Madrid player.
Among the greats of the game, there are some who have blazed a trail wherever they have gone. Others have left us wondering what they would have been like in a different environment.
For example, we’ll never know how Lionel Messi would have done in the Premier League. But we can safely assume he’d have been brilliant.
Vinicius is a fantastic player, but he’s not Messi. If he doesn’t challenge himself away from the Bernabeu, he’s the kind of player there might be some hesitations over grouping with the very best.
Move to Arsenal, a side set up for further success on the back of their Premier League victory, and Vinicius could cement his reputation by playing his part towards some achievements in a new environment.
Escaping Mbappe’s shadow
Ever since Real Madrid finally signed Kylian Mbappe two years ago, there have been doubts over his and Vinicius’ ability to coexist.
The fact they’ve scored 130 goals between them in the time since suggests those fears are misplaced. Conversely, the fact that Madrid haven’t won any major silverware in that time adds fuel to the fire.
Tactically, there’s reason to be sceptical that Vinicius and Mbappe can function in the same team together. Throw in Jude Bellingham in his ever advancing midfield role, and you end up with too many players fighting for the same pockets of space.
Simply put, Vinicius is stuck in Mbappe’s shadow in Madrid. Were he to leave for Arsenal, he’d become the main man.
It might even boost his Ballon d’Or chances. Obviously, he came close before, and his club were distraught he didn’t win it.
But these days, Madrid would be likely to put their weight and influence behind Mbappe if he was in with a chance of football’s most prestigious individual prize.
The counter-argument is that in football’s biggest ever transfer, Neymar thought he might boost his Ballon d’Or chances by leaving Messi’s shadow at Barcelona, but he never did.
At 26, though, Vinicius has time to write his own storyline. He is a superstar, but not Madrid’s biggest. He would absolutely be Arsenal’s.
The Mourinho factor
More of a reason to leave Real Madrid than a reason to specifically join Arsenal, but the Jose Mourinho factor cannot be overlooked when it comes to Vinicius’ future.
The fall-out from the Prestianni incident when Madrid faced Benfica last season was messy.
Mourinho did say he’d never pick Prestianni again if he was proven guilty of what Vinicius had accused him of, but the manager also made reference to the presumption of innocence.
How he handled the situation split opinion, which has led to predictions of awkwardness when he starts working with Vinicius.
The player’s stance remains to be seen, but you could understand why he would be hesitant to commit to playing for a Mourinho side.
Becoming club’s best-paid player
Just like we said Vinicius doesn’t need to prove himself, he doesn’t need the money either. He’s already Madrid’s second-highest earner, behind only Mbappe.
But he would likely become Arsenal’s top earner, if that status matters to him, by making a move.
Arsenal might have to pay north of £400,000 per week to Vinicius to tempt him away from Madrid.
By doing so, he would comfortably become their best-paid player, overtaking Bukayo Saka (who’s on £300,000 per week).
Having a team built around him
Finally, this point ties into some of what has been mentioned already, but Vinicius would be absolutely central to the Arsenal project.
Yes, Saka is the face of the team right now, and they’re obviously not short of other top players.
But Vinicius is on another level and is the kind of player that Arsenal would be building around.
That isn’t the case in Madrid, where there is significant pressure to build a team around Mbappe instead.
There’s a clear space on the left wing ready for Arsenal to fill with an upgrade. They’ve signed Christos Tzolis to replace Leandro Trossard, but Vinicius is a different calibre and would be not only an automatic starter, but possibly the most important player in Arsenal’s attack.
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