Real Madrid are awaiting a response from Vinicius Jr after offering the Arsenal target an improved contract worth in excess of £19 million a year. The Spanish club have also reportedly offered an improved £18.5 million deal to secure the 26-year-old forward. The Brazil international’s current terms with Madrid expire at the end of next season, in less than a year, and Real Madrid do not want to lose him on a free transfer.
Arsenal have made Vinicius Jr aware that they are willing to step in if he fails to reach an agreement with Real Madrid. Talks took place in Madrid on Wednesday between the player’s agents, Real Madrid general director Jose Angel Sanchez, and chief scout Juni Calafat. Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho underlined that the forward is firmly in his plans. Vinicius Jr returned to pre-season camp on Monday for standard medical tests and trained for the first time under Mourinho.
Contract Negotiations in Madrid
Real Madrid are believed to be increasingly confident of keeping Vinicius Jr at the Bernabeu. Reports on Wednesday suggested Madrid were bullish about seeing off interest from north London, particularly with Mourinho's backing. One major sticking point in negotiations has been the re-signing fee, but the latest offer has left Real Madrid confident he will commit his future to the club.
Vinicius Jr has played for Los Blancos since 2018. He is thought to view any new contract as the defining deal of his career, recognizing efforts that have made him a Ballon d'Or contender in Real Madrid colors.
Despite the growing confidence at the Bernabeu, Vinicius Jr added to uncertainty on Wednesday night by deleting his entire Instagram history. His account, which has 63.9 million followers, currently displays no images, no bio, and no profile picture. All Real Madrid training and playing photos that featured prominently on his page have been removed.
Arsenal Transfer Window Plans
Deleting social media content is not uncommon among footballers and can be interpreted in several ways, but it typically indicates dissatisfaction with a club. Arsenal are waiting in the wings and hoping to capitalise on the situation, having made initial enquiries into the player last week.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta remains upbeat about his plans for the rest of the transfer window following the £34 million signing of Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge. Speaking after Arsenal's pre-season friendly against Girona, Arteta insisted the Premier League winners will be very ambitious.
"We expect to have movements in the next few weeks, obviously," Arteta said. "We want to get better like anybody else, and you can see the transfer market and our opponents. We won't sit still and we are very ambitious with what we are doing."
Arteta added that internal competition is key to the club's development. "The margins are very small. Because we want to get better and the level is going to increase," Arteta said. "We need to increase the competition internally. We need to make sure we identify the things that we don't have in the team."
