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Making the case for Vini Jr at The Arsenal
So…Vini Junior, eh?
Did you see that coming? I certainly didn’t, but Messrs Ornstein and McNicholas dropped an Athletic Bomba on our social media feeds, and yesterday was spent with Arsenal fans recalibrating their ‘dream starting XI’ for next season, with the Brazilian superstar firmly placed in it on that left wing.
It’s exciting, isn’t it?
There seems to be two schools of thought here. Two ways in which Arsenal fans are reacting to the news that Arsenal are ‘exploring the possibility’ of a deal. The first group – of which I’m choosing to be in for a change – is just excited at the prospect of this happening. The second group, of which I have a few mates whose feet are firmly in that camp, are saying that it’s never happening in a million years.
That may well be true. It will be a very difficult deal to pull off. Real Madrid do not want to sell one of their prized assets. We’re used – as Arsenal fans – to seeing players join Real Madrid or Barcelona, not exit them. The only time players leave those clubs is when they are surplus to requirements. The Ozil deal was amazing; we all couldn’t believe it, and it was a very exciting transfer, but ultimately he was being moved on because Real Madrid wanted to find room for Gareth Bale. This time it would be different. This time it is Madrid not wanting to lose Vini Junior for free. We’d have a statement signing that would blow anything else out of the water. I’d go as far as to say that it might be the biggest transfer the whole of the Premier League has ever seen.
And that’s probably why so many are sceptical, which I totally understand, because the financial numbers behind it would probably be eye-watering. The rumours are that he’s currently on €400k-per-week at Madrid, or that he’s turned that down. Arsenal would have to make that a pound instead of a euro, for sure. But then you’re getting a higher tax rate in England than Spain, so the Brazilian would end up being worse off with take-home pay. But does that matter to these players? I read something a while ago that talked about the way players use weekly wage as a benchmark of their own value. They all meet up with their international teams, and those who are on the highest weekly wage are the big dogs in the team. They are already multi-millionaires; they don’t need the money, but they do need the kudos from their fellow pro’s. So perhaps that would be something for Vini Junior? Perhaps what this situation is, is not about money, but status?
If that is the case, maybe Arsenal’s interest does mean that it is possible, because coming to the Premier League – the biggest and best in world football – and being ‘the guy’ is his aim. As has been pointed out on social media by a few people on my timeline, at Real Madrid he is in the shadow of Mbappe. The Frenchman is the superstar, with Vini Jr the wingman, so a move to The Arsenal will put him in a top team, but as the guy. He’d be joining a team that made the semi-final of the Champions League two seasons ago, the final last season, only losing out on penalties, having just won the Premier League. He will have watched that Champions League final. He might have even seen over a million people line the streets of London for the parade. He’ll be looking at The Arsenal as one of the most exciting teams in Europe to be in, and he’ll have had a few Brazilian’s named Gabriel who would be talking to him about what it is like at The Arsenal.
He might even be looking at the fact that a certain Brazilian could be about to sign next week. If he and his representatives are speaking to Arsenal about the possibilities of a signature to play in red and white, he’ll be well aware of the talent at the club, plus he’ll be well aware of how strong we will look with both him and Bruno Guimaraes joining the team. This is a good time to be joining The Arsenal, and with Mikel Arteta just having won the Premier League title, there’s proof of concept that Arsenal can go the distance and win trophies.
Real Madrid must be thinking about this too. As already mentioned, they don’t want to lose him for free. They want him to be at their club and so will no doubt offer a new deal on better terms. They’ve also entered the race for Diomande. As I speculated yesterday, that deal is supposedly a message to Vini Jr, or so some have suggested. But Madrid do have a surplus of attacking players if Diomande signs. I don’t think the two are related, personally, because Diomande plays on the right and Vini Jr on the left, but if that deal gets done, then there will certainly need to be movement out of the club, and that could give Arsenal some opportunities – even if it isn’t with the Ballon d’Or runner-up.
And with all that said, suddenly it does seem like this could be an achievable deal, albeit one that I doubt gets moving any time soon. It feels like there needs to be some more moving parts for this to start to actually move along. What Arsenal can’t afford to do, however, is chase this deal all summer and then find out he signs a new deal and we have left ourselves without that left-wing position being solved. So I hope there are some clear plans around ‘Plan B’ or ‘Plan C’ if we find ourselves with a week before the transfer closes and we are still nowhere with the signing. Aim for the moon, Arsenal, but if you can’t get there, have yourselves something else lined up, please.
That’s it from me today. Back tomorrow as usual, as we start another week, hoping for some big Arsenal news. Catch you then.
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