For a few years, Real Madrid were a team built around Vinicius Junior. He was the No. 7, the heir to Cristiano Ronaldo as the new face of Madrid, and after Karim Benzema's decline in 2022 when his body could give no more following that masterpiece of a 2021/22 Ballon d'Or campaign in Royal White, the keys to the kingdom were very much in Vini's hands.
That all changed after he won his second Champions League title in the 2023/24 season and nearly the Ballon d'Or with it, as Kylian Mbappe's arrival led to an ugly power struggle that was unbecoming of both superstar players, with many Madridistas going into camps on one side or the other regarding who the team should get rid of.
As the 2026/27 season gets under way under Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid have won all three matches, and it has become clear that the team is no longer built around Vinicius Jr. It's not that Vini is no longer important, because his work rate, quality, and overall skill on the left wing still are, in terms of how he can create chances, destabilize defenses, and, yes, contribute to goals.
Vinicius Junior is no longer the star of the show
But out of the three superstars on the team, Vinicius has been the worst, almost by default, with how brilliant Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe have been, and even Arda Guler has been the most impressive attacking player overall, especially when looking at efficiency and chances created.
For Real Madrid fans who watched Vinicius Jr. shine the brightest in the first half of the 2020s and go from young prospect to disappointing finishe to true superstar, it is a bit sad to see how Real Madrid are divesting from Vini Jr. as a focal point in the attack and the main attraction.
But it is literally all for the best that Real Madrid are doing that. Make no mistake, this is not a piece against Vinicius Junior, and signing the Brazilian national team star to a contract extension was literally one of the best things Florentino Perez and Jose Mourinho could have done for Real Madrid this summer transfer window, even accounting for the record 140 million euros spent on an arguably even higher upside winger in young Yan Diomande.
The thing is, Real Madrid were starting to get worse and more predictable as an attack the more that things were tied up in Vini. And the pressure was starting to get to him, too. With less riding on him, Real Madrid are in better hands going forward, and that will be doubly true once Diomande gets going under Mou.
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