Jose Mourinho thinks Vinicius Junior should have left Real Madrid in the summer to go somewhere he is ‘respected’.
Arsenal enquired about the Brazilian superstar and reports suggested they were willing to offer him a mammoth £18.5million per season – more than any player at the club.
His contract expires at the end of the season and the club’s position is that he must lower his demands if they are to agree an extension. They would still be willing to make him their joint-highest earner alongside Kylian Mbappe.
Vinicius Jr has often been a target of racism in Spain – there have been more than 20 such cases of alleged abuse towards him since he joined from Flamengo in 2018. The situation has reduced him to tears before, but he has insisted on staying in La Liga so that he doesn’t ‘give the racists what they want’.
His future has come under more scrutiny in recent times as he has had a slow start to the season – one goal and three assists in ten outings – and is now serving a four-match ban for pulling Villarreal star Nathan Saliba’s hair.
Mourinho said: ‘If I were in his shoes, I probably wouldn’t be here. I would have forced a move to a country where he’d be respected, but out of loyalty to Real Madrid and love for the club, he stayed.
‘He believes things can improve, and he still has that smile. Nothing and no one can take it away from him.
‘He’s a fantastic guy, and it’s easy to get along with him. I spend a few minutes alone with him every day.
‘I value him immensely because he always manages to live and survive with a smile.’