How Barcelona nearly signed Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo
- Vinicius and Rodrygo joined Real Madrid as teenagers
- Agent Andre Cury claims they nearly went to Barcelona instead
- Both have become star players at the Santiago Bernabeu
By Sean Walsh
Real Madrid duo Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo nearly ended up joining Barcelona when first making the move to Europe, agent Andre Cury has revealed.
Both wingers signed for Los Blancos when they were teenagers, agreeing to move to the Spanish capital upon turning 18 - Vinicius spent two seasons in Flamengo's first team while Rodrygo was brought in after nearly three years with Santos' senior setup.
After rocky beginnings to life at Real Madrid, Vinicius and Rodrygo are now two of their star names and have won a myriad of trophies together.
But speaking on El Larguero, Cury explained that the two forwards came close to signing for Barcelona, while Vinicius was actually a fan of La Blaugrana.
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"We had both players under control. Vinicius is a matter of betrayal, because people very close to me on a personal level betrayed us in the end. Rodrygo was tied up, but the club decided not to sign him in the end," Cury said.
"Vinicius was all arranged and Madrid found out he was in Barcelona and invited him to go to Madrid, but Madrid didn't even know him. Vinicius went to Madrid because his agents chose him. We had been working on the signing for three years and his agents betrayed us.
"Vinicius told me he was a Culer [Barcelona fan]. He cried after the 6-1 of Barcelona against PSG [in 2017]. He told me, I don't know it from others.
"Rodrygo was sealed, but Barcelona decided not to go in. With Vinicius we were talking, but when he betrayed us we went for Rodrygo. For me, Rodrygo is more complete than Vinicius.
"We went to Santos to negotiate for him, we didn't close the deal and Madrid arrived with much more economic strength. His father told me that if I arranged it between Santos and Barcelona, Rodrygo would go to Barcelona for less money."
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