Real Madrid: Overreacting to Vinícius Júnior’s play thus far this season

Dubbed by some experts as the next Neymar Jr., Vinícius Júnior is quickly making a name for himself in his first season with Real Madrid. The talented Brazilian forward has been receiving more and more game time and has been putting impressive numbers.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to leave Spain and head to Italy came as a shock to many around the football world.

Los Blancos were left reeling as they tried to figure out how best to replace the illustrious CR7. The answer – and likely the most practical answer – was to bring Vinícius Júnior in from Flamengo a few months before he was scheduled to by contract.

Now, let me make it very clear that I am not going to be comparing the 18-year-old who has been in Madrid for just six months to Ronaldo, however, there are some similarities to draw upon when looking at the two.

The most important thing for Madridistas going into this season was to be soothed by a player’s individual play across all competitions. When scoring became a struggle midway through October, former manager Julen Lopetegui looked to the young Vinícius.

In 16 total appearances across four different competitions, the youngster from Brazil is really starting to look like a future star. His stats are even more impressive coming from a kid who has only been playing on the professional level for a year and a half now.

Three goals, four assists, and 17 fouls drawn across his 16 matches astonish me. It’s not just those stats that show the kid is a future star, it’s his game sense, his speed, and his fundamentals. They are all jaw-dropping!

EA Sports, the game creator of the internationally loved FIFA video game, have rewarded the Real Madrid winger with a ‘Future Star’ card which shows what the game developers and scouts think his rating could one day be.

I think it’s clear they agree with me.

Thanks to his phenomenal performances as of late and the injuries to Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio, it seems Vinícius Júnior will remain a starter at least for the next two matches.

Vinícius’ play has been really fantastic over the last couple of months and the match time he is getting is starting to show in the way he reads the game and passes the ball with his teammates.

But, there is plenty of work still to be done. This player has all the skills needed to one day be a star, yet, he must continue to train and learn from some of the best in the game.

I may be overreacting to this small sample size, but I think it is the beginning of something much bigger. My hat goes off to president Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid board, and the scouts for finding such an amazing talent at a young age.

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