Vinicius Junior has been with Real Madrid for nearly a decade now, and the club has believed in him since Day One, keeping the faith in the Brazilian as their starting left winger in the aftermath of Cristiano Ronaldo's departure and the failed Eden Hazard investment despite deep lows, including a 2020/21 Champions League campaign in which he missed sitters that left Sergio Ramos on his knees and had games so bad Karim Benzema told teammates not to pass him the ball.
Out of those ashes, Vinicius Jr. became arguably the best player in the world at his peak in the 2023/24 season and crucial to two Champions League winning games. But somewhere along the way after the departure of veteran leaders and the arrival of a name bigger than his own in Kylian Mbappe, Vini Jr. lost himself, and from beloved jewel, he started to become scrutinized by his own fans, even accuased of being a coach killer after Xabi Alonso's brief dismissal.
Now Vinicius Jr. is less than a year away from his contract being run down, and as Real Madrid struggle to agree to a new deal, Arsenal and Mikel Arteta are pinpointing him as a dream target. And while half the media is assuring everyone that Real Madrid will sign Vinicius Jr. to a new deal and there is no risk of him going to Arsenal, others, like ESPN Brasil, are very much leaving the door open to a summer exit to the Premier League.
Vinicius Jr. is at risk of making a monumental error
Vini's situation feels eerily similar to the way in which Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus in 2018, including a debate about image rights, except there are differences that would make Vinicius abandoning Los Blancos out of emotion much, much worse.
First and most obviously, Vinicius is not even half the player Cristiano was, which is no statement against Vinicius. But the Brazilian superstar won half of Cristiano's Champions Leagues, has scored only a fraction of his goals with a fraction of the assists, and is nowhere near Ronaldo in terms of Ballon d'Or tally.
Plus, Cristiano left Real Madrid after being blatantly disrespected and devalued by Florentino Perez, to the point where Zinedine Zidane stepped in and eventually left when he realized Cristiano would go to the Old Lady, and he left the Santiago Bernabeu at the top of his game as a Champions League winner and prime Ballon d'Or candidate.
Right now, Vinicius Jr. is coming off the worst two seasons of his career since his first breakout in 2021/22, accusations that he is no longer fully invested in the team, and two trophyless seasons. Additionally, he would be joining Arsenal instead of Juventus, trading Real for a flavor of the week instead of a club that once stood just a pedestal below the Merengues.
There is no guarantee Vinicius Junior will leave for Arsenal, and the odds are still in the favor of him staying, even after the reported Yan Diomande signing. But with Florentino Perez looking at Michael Olise next year and no deal done between Vini and Real Madrid, everything on paper says that Vinicius is not 100 percent on board, otherwise he would have taken the money Real are offering him and stayed, fulfilling Jose Mourinho's wish.
Vinicius is still at risk of leaving the Royal White quarter this summer, and if he does so, it would be a bigger blow to himself than what Cristiano Ronaldo did in leaving Juventus. Because in this case, the problem would not be Real Madrid undervaluing a superstar slowly over time but the superstar himself thinking his life will be better outside of Madrid instead of competing and coexisting with the current stars. And just ask even the great Cristiano how that exit worked out for him in the end.
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