In another life, one where everyone followed the script, Vinicius Junior is king of the world.
A year ago, the Brazilian superstar did not envisage throwing tantrums at being substituted, threating to leave Real Madrid, and later issuing a grovelling apology. Nor did he imagine spending a lonely night at Anfield nestled in the pocket of Liverpool full-back Conor Bradley.
A year ago, he was going to win the Ballon d’Or. He had led Real to the league and European double. He was going to be named the best footballer on the planet. He knew it, everyone knew it. Rio Ferdinand, repeating it into his microphone like a child’s talking action figure with a broken pull string, certainly knew it when Vini Jr scored Real’s second in the Champions League final.
Only he didn’t. Rodri won it and Vinicius Junior and Real Madrid boycotted the ceremony in protest. ‘I’ll do it 10 times harder if I have to,’ a defiant Vinicius Junior posted on social media in the aftermath. ‘They are not ready.’
More than 12 months on and everyone is still ready and waiting. Instead of burning brighter, the star has started to flicker. Tensions between Vinicius Junior and Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso, who replaced legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti in the summer, have reached boiling point. Kylian Mbappe turned up and soon made it clear who was the main man in the team. Mbappe is currently on 18 goals in 16 matches. Vinicius has five in the same number of games. Inconsistency has replaced supremacy. When this year’s Ballon d’Or shortlist was released, Vini wasn’t even in the top 10, finishing 16th behind the likes of Mo Salah, Cole Palmer, Harry Kane and Viktor Gyokeres.
Vinicius was benched for Real’s opening Champions League game against Marseille. He’s finished just five matches all season. It all came to a head in the 72nd minute of the first El Clasico of the season against Barcelona. Up went Vinicius’s number, the eighth time Alonso has substituted him, and off he trudged.
Vinicius Junior has looked increasingly like a player in turmoil since missing out on the Ballon d’Or last year
At this month’s Clasico the Brazil international clashed with his Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso amid speculation over a rift
He touched hands with his replacement Rodrygo, marched straight past Alonso without even the slightest of glances shared between them, spread his arms wide to the bench and declared, loudly enough that it was picked up by broadcasters DAZN: ‘Always me! I’m leaving the team! I’m leaving! It’s better if I leave, I’m leaving.’
He later backtracked, posting on X: ‘I want to apologise to all the Madridistas for my reaction when I was substituted in the Clasico. Just as I have already done in person during today’s training, I also want to apologise again to my team-mates, the club, and the president.
‘Sometimes passion gets the better of me because I always want to win and help my team. My competitive character stems from the love I feel for this club and everything it represents.’
And there was that passion again last weekend as he was overheard chuntering during Real’s goalless draw with Real Vallecano in response, apparently, to some of Alonso’s substitutions: ‘It seems like we don’t want to win today’.
We’ve got to that point now. Anything Vinicius Junior says now is interpreted through the prism of their fallout. When he spoke ahead of Brazil’s friendly against Senegal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, he said of new Selecao head coach Ancelotti: ‘He is giving us confidence, making everyone feel comfortable, taking advantage of each player’s best characteristics in their positions. He gives us peace of mind, making the work easier and everyone enjoys it.’
He may well have just wanted to express how much he is enjoying working under a manager again who got so much out of him in Madrid but all everyone else could hear was: ‘…unlike Xabi’.
How this all plays out remains to be seen. There’s talks over a new contract with his current deal due to expire in 2027, though the crumbling of his relationship with Alonso has left some suspecting a parting of the ways. Vinicius and his people considered a lucrative proposal from Saudi Arabia over the summer but a firm offer never materialised. If he is to leave, it is likely only those clubs in the Middle East would be able to afford his demands. Vinicius Junior is reportedly on about £350,000 a week on his current deal.
Respected figures in Brazil can’t help but see Vinicius Junior beginning to tread a similar path as another generational talent, one who many believe never quite fulfilled his potential. One leading journalist has referred to it as the ‘Neymar-isation’ of Vinicius.
The new Real Madrid manager will have to work out how to manage the mercurial superstar
In his native Brazil there is a question mark as to whether he is going down the same path as his talented compatriot Neymar
Neymar, too, had everything: the pace, the skill, the stardust. He, too, won bundles of trophies but, albeit in an era dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo never placed higher than third for the Ballon d’Or. He never led Brazil to a Copa America nor took them anywhere close to ending their wait to lift the World Cup again.
As Ronaldo and Messi prepare for yet another World Cup, Neymar was once again left out of the Brazil squad as he struggles to shake off injury issues, is on the verge of relegation with Santos, and is far from a lock in Ancelotti’s final squad for the summer.
Neymar’s critics often point to his playboy antics away from football as one of the reasons he didn’t end up alongside the immortals. The lavish parties, the birthday blowouts, the love affairs plastered all over the front pages.
There is a worry Vinicius, who idolised Neymar throughout his early career, is doing the same. Even Ancelotti faced questions this week over whether Vinicius Junior’s on-off relationship with Brazilian influencer Virginia Fonseca was affecting his game.
The winger was accused of being unfaithful after intimate messages to other women got leaked and he ended up posting a public apology.
‘I’m not his father nor his brother, I’m just his coach,’ responded Ancelotti.
Only Ancelotti has so often been more than just a coach for Vinicius. He has, in many ways, acted as a father figure. The two shared a warm bond at Real, one now replaced by a cold distance with Alonso. Ancelotti even made a point of taking Vinicius Junior aside and talking to him personally after his outburst during El Clasico.
‘Ancelotti is concerned that Vinicius Junior’s talent is being wasted so close to a World Cup,’ Klaus Richmond, Brazilian reporter for publications Placar and Folha de S.Paulo tells Daily Mail Sport.
Carlo Ancelotti managed Vinicius well at Real Madrid and now takes over with the Selecao
This is why this international break is so important for Vinicius Junior. He is back with a coach who knows how to get the best out of him in a system that plays to his strengths. He is in a squad where he will be the main man for their friendlies against Senegal and Tunisia. Mbappe won’t be there, for a start.
‘Ancelotti sees Vini as an important name in the process of rebuilding the Brazilian national team,’ added Richmond. ‘Carlo trusts him a lot. The new playing style relies heavily on him playing more centrally, closer to the goal and less on the left wing, a position that should be occupied by Rodrygo and Gabriel Martinelli.’
Vinicius Junior can prove, away from the noise of Madrid, that he’s ready to spearhead his country’s World Cup charge. After their worst qualifying campaign in their history, Ancelotti needs him just as much as Vinicius needs Ancelotti. This is a country that’s waited more than 20 years to win a sixth World Cup.
‘We know the importance he has within the squad, we know the quality he can bring to us,’ Brazil team-mate Alex Sandro told Daily Mail Sport this week.
‘We are fortunate to have Vinicius Junior, knowing that at any time and any moment he can make the difference. He is highly regarded around the world for his quality and what he has been demonstrating over the last few years.’
Much of the frustration has been that there are frequently two sides to Vinicius, so much to enjoy and applaud but also so much that leaves admirers pulling their hair out.
When things are going well, he glides around with a smile on his face. Brazil have spent the week preparing at Arsenal’s training ground where Vinicius Junior posed for pictures with members of the Gunners’ academy.
This is the same player who has faced deplorable abuse throughout his career and has frequently stood up as the figurehead in calling for football to do more in its fight against racism.
Vinicius was all smiles when training for upcoming international fixtures at Arsenal’s facilities
But he has been forced to publicly share more distressing emotions as the victim of virulent racism from the stands
It’s the same player who has shown he can light up the biggest games.
And yet at last year’s Copa America, when results weren’t going well in the group stages – Brazil won just one of their three matches – Vinicius Junior frequently refused to speak to reporters in the mixed zone after games or would respond sarcastically to questions.
‘It seems to me the perfect portrait of the Brazilian player: when praised, everything is fine, but when put to the test, benched, criticised, or in an uncomfortable situation, he complains,’ added Richmond. ‘The best path for him is to completely avoid off-field problems now.’
It’s clear how much the Ballon d’Or snub hurt him. Sources close to Vinicius Junior told Daily Mail Sport that the forward is determined to prove himself even more after the Ballon d’Or defeat and the struggles that have followed. He does not, they say, intend to give up that easily.
They also point to the fact that it’s not just Vinicius Junior floundering under Alonso with countrymen Rodrygo and Endrick also struggling for games and goals. Ancelotti gave maverick talents the freedom to express themselves, Alonso wants his players to stick to his strict structure.
‘The Ballon d’Or may have affected him a little,’ admitted Ancelotti. ‘But now Vini is close to his best form. He’s playing very well and is proving decisive.
‘Vini has a strong character. He does not dwell too much on his mistakes or the criticism he receives. He looks ahead very quickly. I’m sure Vini will arrive at the World Cup in top form.’
If he does, there’s no grander stage on which to attempt once more to seize the throne.
