Real Madrid Stance on Vinicius Jr Following Liverpool Links
Real Madrid have no intention of letting teenage winger Vinicius Junior leave the club any time soon and are even said to have rejected an alleged proposal from Liverpool.
Real moved fast to secure the €45m signature of Vinicius when he just 16 and had played only a handful of first-team games for Brazilian club Flamengo, with the youngster eventually moving to Spain just under two years ago upon turning 18.
Vinicius is still considered one of the most promising talents in world football, although he has found regular opportunities difficult to come by this season. Of his 28 club appearances in all competitions, only 13 have been as a starter.
However, that did include back-to-back starts in Real’s last two La Liga games prior to Spanish football being halted due to coronavirus. One of those was El Clásico against Barcelona, a 2-0 win for Real in which Vinicius actually scored.
Liverpool have been linked with Vinicius as a result of speculation and gossip in Spain. The latest claim that the Reds submitted a ‘proposal’ and have been rebuffed originates from Spanish publication SPORT and has been shared in English by Sport Witness.
SPORT allege that a Liverpool proposal was made in ‘recent days’ but it was supposedly ‘rejected outright’ by Real, who still hold great long-term hope for the young Brazilian.
Sport Witness notes that SPORT did not disclose the nature of the proposal or any figures that might have been part of it.
It has been well established that Liverpool are not planning vast spending this summer, with even a £53m Timo Werner release clause beyond their willingness. That being said, it might be considered plausible if Liverpool were making a general enquiry - perhaps with a view to a future approach.
Even though it turns out Vinicius isn’t for sale and Liverpool aren’t going to do anything major, the Premier League leaders are still generally on the hunt for a new attacking player to boost squad depth long-term and maybe replace one of the existing front three in due course.
Kylian Mbappe would be the obvious ideal but the vast cost of any such deal makes it beyond prohibitive and Jurgen Klopp has already publicly ruled it out – regardless of what the regular Liverpool-leaning headlines about the Frenchman would have you believe.
Yet, as a wide forward, Vinicius fits a similar profile, as does Ousmane Dembele, a player 90min reported towards the end of last month is on the radar as an alternative to Werner.
Liverpool’s ultimate aim is to land Werner for around £40m and hope the threat of pulling out of the race, combined with a release clause that drops to £36m next year will allow it to happen.
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