Agent reveals: Vinicius Junior was about to move to FC Barcelona
Vinicius Junior is currently delighting Real Madrid fans. However, the Brazilian almost switched to his big rival, of all places.
Vinicius Junior is currently experiencing his sporting breakthrough at Real Madrid, but that the Brazilian actually ended up with Los Blancos was only decided more or less at the last second. Because actually the offensive player and his advisor Federico Pena were already in agreement with FC Barcelona, as Pena has now revealed.
In the podcast “Que T’Hi Jugues” by Cadena SER Pena spoke about the reasons why it finally turned out to be Madrid. Above all, the sporting perspective seemed greater to the player and his agent at Real. “The player would not have been in the shadow of Neymar, who was in the shadow of Messi at the time,” said Pena. In 2017 it was already clear to the then 17-year-old Vinicius that when he came of age, he would move from Flamengo Rio de Janeiro to Europe.
Vinicius on Real Madrid: Sports perspective fed up with money
At that time, Neymar was still playing in Barcelona, the offensive with him and Messi was already too full for Vinicius. However, negotiations with the Catalans were well advanced. “Barcelona have put together a more lucrative package for the player,” said Pena at Globoesports. Other clubs have also offered more money than Los Blancos.
The final decision was about the possibility of making a bigger impression on Real Madrid on the pitch. “The opportunity to be on the pitch faster and to break records in Madrid became more and more concrete,” said Pena, underscoring: “Vinicius liked the project at Real Madrid better. People give the impression that he has the decision Hit for the money. But that’s not true. Real Madrid had the better attitude in the negotiations. “
Pena makes no secret of the fact that Barcelona would have been more attractive apart from the sport – and doesn’t just mean the money. “Is the city of Barcelona better than Madrid? Yes, by far. But as a player you can’t do much anyway. They drive from their house to the club. Vinicius is special, they would have treated him equally in Barcelona and Madrid,” said Pena.
In May 2017, the transfer of Vinicius was finally made perfect, but the change did not take place until July 12, 2018 – on the day of his 18th birthday. At this point, Neymar was known to have long since left FC Barcelona. In the current season, Vinicius has played big so far, the 21-year-old has been involved in 17 goals in 18 competitive games.