Who is Real Madrid’s latest Brazilian teenager, Vinicius Junior?
By Matt Addison
Vinicius Junior could be Real Madrid’s next big star, so what will he bring to the Bernabeu?
Real Madrid presented their latest star on Friday, when 18-year-old Brazilian Vinicius Junior was unveiled at the Bernabeu.
Arriving from Fluminese, he becomes the world’s most expensive player under the age of 19 ever, costing £38.7 million. Manchester United signed Anthony Martial for around £2 million less while PSG’s capture of Kylian Mbappe is, at the moment, still a loan deal, though that will surpass this transfer when they pay around £166 million for the French World Cup winner.
The Brazil under-20 international was much-coveted, but Madrid got their man, having agreed to sign him at the age of just 16.
What will he bring?
Born in July 2000, Vinicius Junior is predominantly a winger or a striker who often plays on the left-hand side.
He’s a typical Brazilian flair player, capable of creating and scoring with excellent dribbling and has inevitably been labelled the ‘next Neymar’ even at such a tender age.
He has the tricks, speed, vision and temperament to succeed, but performing at the highest level on a consistent basis will be a tough test.
Real are keen to test him out in their upcoming International Champions Cup matches against Manchester United, Juventus and Roma, and have no plans to loan him out. If he can handle the stardom and the pressure, Vinicius Junior could be a regular feature in La Liga next season if all goes to plan.
Unlike with Martin Odegaard, the Norwegian youngster who signed for Real Madrid in 2015 and has struggled to make a first-team impact since then, the feeling is that Vinicius Junior can come in immediately and make an impact.
Fellow Brazilians Casemiro and Marcelo, who both played for their country at the World Cup in Russia, will be crucial in helping him settle in.
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Why did Real pay so much?
According to AS, Real Madrid feel that Vinicius Junior could well be the next Neymar, and they weren’t prepared to miss out to anyone else like they did when the original Neymar moved to Barcelona at the age of 21.
This time, they acted quickly to get their man, and were willing to pay a big fee to acquire him, just as they were when signing other young talents such as Dani Ceballos and Rodrygo, another teenage Brazilian who will arrive next summer from Santos for £40.5 million.
Their new approach seems to be hoovering up all the young talent in an attempt to save money further down the line, or at least generate funds by selling them on at some point.
There’s undoubted potential in Vinicius Junior, and Julen Lopetegui will be hoping to unlock that as soon as he possibly can, be that this season or next.
With moves for Neymar and Mbappe deemed unlikely this summer, Real looked to bring in the next best thing — the next world superstar — and Vinicius Junior was the man handed that task, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Neymar and become a superstar in Europe having moved from his native Brazil.
No pressure then.