Real Madrid are continuing to struggle to sign Vinicius Junior to a new contract, and while the Brazilian superstar continues to state that he wants to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu and may be lowering his demands a bit, there is still a lot of distance between Real and Vini in terms of the salary, as Vini wants 30 million euros per season to get closer to Kylian Mbappe while Real are only offering a slight raise at 22 million euros per season.
The salary debate is one issue, but then Vinicius Jr. also wants a higher percentage of his image rights to go from the traditional 50 percent to something closer to Kylian's 80 percent, which is the highest ever for a Real Madrid player - even significantly above club GOAT Cristiano Ronaldo. And to top that all off, despite not being a free agent, Vinicius apparently wants a signing bonus just like the one Mbappe got in 2024.
It is a messy situation, and with Arsenal putting the pressure on an all time blockbuster Premier League transfer to make their title winning team even stronger, Real Madrid fans are faced with the reality that, with less than a year left on his contract, Vinicius could be sold.
Erling Haaland or Michael Olise is the next debate
Funny enough, Real Madrid have already taken steps towards replacing him. Though they swear the Yan Diomande transfer is not about replacing Vinicius Jr., the Ivorian international can easily play on the left wing, too. And Real Madrid have not stopped their interest in Michael Olise; they just cooled it this summer with Bayern Munich clearly not selling at any price. If they can get 150 million euros out of Vinicius, there is nothing stopping them from going back for Olise, maybe even as soon as this summer if they sell Vini and get a green light for Olise.
The Bayern Munich right winger could start in that position for Real Madrid, finally bringing the quality left foot they lost since Gareth Bale's decline, and Diomande could move to the left of Kylian Mbappe. But Olise is not the biggest Galactico on Real Madrid's radar.
Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland has never left Real's eye, and he has made some winks at the club this summer, including his father failing to rule out the transfer. Haaland could have joined Real Madrid in 2022 if they were not so falsely confident in the Mbappe deal at that time, and he still has a house in Marbella and long term dreams of starting up top for Los Vikingos.
Signing Haaland may be easier, then, than Olise, especially if the fabled Real Madrid release clause does exist. Even if it doesn't, there's enough smoke to think that if Florentino Perez were to try hard enough, he could get the deal done. Then Real Madrid could play Mbappe in his favored left wing position with Yan Diomande staying on the right and Haaland scoring the goals in the middle as that true box presence Real have not had at that level.
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