Flamengo and Real Madrid have made their agreement pertaining to Vinicius Jr official on Tuesday, with the player joining Los Blancos’ ranks in June of 2019 at the very latest.
The 16-year-old Brazilian star could join earlier once he turns 18 as his contract situation changes then, although the Rio club want him to stay an extra year.
A new deal with Flamengo was just a manner to regulate the final deal with Real, and the Bernabeu outfit will be paying 30 million now and the remaining 15 million euros at regular intervals.
Neymar and Gabriel Jesus may have gotten away over the past couple of windows, but in this transfer market Real have gotten South America’s biggest star.
Barcelona in fact were well positioned to secure a deal, with Neymar sending several messages to the player personally.
Andre Curry, a member of the company Traffic with deep connections in Brazilian football, had convinced the Catalan club to make an offer, one that was larger than Real Madrid’s.
Manchester City, Manchester United, Juventus, PSG, Liverpool and Chelsea were all reportedly willing to pay the player’s initial release clause, despite the fact that he only made his professional debut 10 days ago.
Whether such a risk is warrented on such a young player will only become clearer with the passage of time, but few deny the striker’s meteoric rise.
Real Madrid went to some lengths to convince him to choose Real over Barcelona, and they will be hoping they’ll be repaid handsomely for their gamble, although that may still be a few years down the line.
