One of the biggest Real Madrid transfer stories of the summer involved Vinicius Junior, who had been strongly linked with a move away from the club prior to eventually signing a new contract . Of the clubs interested in his services, Arsenal pushed hardest to sign him , and while they were ultimately unsuccessful, it was believed at one stage that he would go.

Arsenal were very interested in signing Vinicius, who would have been a statement move on the back of their first Premier League title in 22 years. Real Madrid bosses always wanted the Brazilian to stay, but there was some within the dressing room that feared he would head to North London, as revealed by Cadena SER (via MD ).

“Several sources consulted by SER believe that this comes from the summer, when many of Vinicius’ teammates in the dressing room saw him at Arsenal. The renewal was not advancing, in England they wanted to put him as the world image of the Premier League, Haaland and Vinicius, and his teammates assumed that he would leave in the summer.”

Vinicius’ teammates were very glad to see him sign a new six-year contract in the summer, although some believe that the saga is still affecting him – with it being the main reason that he is in very poor form right now.

“He hasn’t left, but they think mentally he has. The dressing room wants him, but it is difficult for him to regain the affection of the Bernabeu. On the pitch he is not improving, the shadow of the bench is approaching and it may be the big footballing issue after the break: if Mou is going to keep Vinicius, a key player at Real Madrid for the last five years, in the starting team for a long time or is Diomande going to steal his place?”

It’s clear that Vinicius is struggling a lot right now, which is why the international break comes at a good time for him. However, there is every chance that he’s no longer in the starting line-up when Villarreal come to the Bernabeu in just under three weeks’ time, and he would be able to agree that it’s undeserved.