Vinicius, three years of traffic jam

On July 20, 2018, Real Madrid presented Vinicius Junior at the Santiago Bernabéu. The white club paid 45 million euros to the Flamengo by the young Brazilian attacker. During the three seasons that he has worn the white shirt, he has shown his excellent technical qualities, but the irregularity and lack of aim have prevented him from taking a fixed place in the eleven and the Madrid team still hopes that he will finish exploding and show your best level. However, this will not be easy, as you will need to convince Carlo Ancelotti that he can be an important player for the team. To top it off, this course will compete for the position with players like Hazard, Bale, Asensio, Lucas Vazquez or his compatriot Rodrygo.

Beginnings in Brazil

Vinícius began his sports career in the lower categories of the Flamengo. In 2017 he made his debut with the red-black elastic in front of the Athletic Mineiro, where he played the last ten minutes of the match. The match ended 1-1. Two days later, he signed an extension of his contract with the Brazilian club until 2022 and their clause was increased to 45 million euros. Something that It was a strategy of the Rio de Janeiro club before a future sale.

After several weeks of speculation, in which some clubs in Europe were interested in the Brazilian jewel, finally, on May 23, 2018 his signing for Real Madrid was closed. However, the Flamengo player could not land on the Santiago Bernabeu until he was 18 years old. Until then he continued in the Rio club. The forward was endorsed by the head of recruitment that Madrid has in Brazil, Juni Calafat. Vinicius was described at the time as a Brazilian from the school of the “Marcelo or Casemiro“, away from the eccentricities of Ronaldinho and Robinho.

During his assignment in the Flamengo, the Brazilian soccer player continued to grow. On August 10, 2017, he made his debut as a professional scorer. The match pitted Flamengo against him Palestinian, in a match corresponding to the second leg of the second phase of the South American Cup. His team won 5-0 and the Cariocas reached the round of 16. A week later he scored a double against Athletic Goianiense (2-0) in the league competition. That season his team was runner-up in the Brazil Cup after falling on penalties in front of the Cruzeiro.

His baptism as a top-level player was in a match against him Fluminense, in the quarterfinals of the South American Cup, where he had a great performance. He entered the field in the second half and managed to raise 3-1 against. It was decisive to get his team's pass to the semifinals. Despite this, he failed to win the trophy and lost in the next round against Independiente.

On March 15 he made his debut in the top South American competition, playing a game of the Libertadores Cup 2018 versus Emelec Ecuadorian. He entered in the 67th minute and scored the two goals that gave Flamengo the victory. And he became the youngest player in the history of the Brazilian club to score in the Libertadores Cup. In the Rio team he played a total of 69 games, in which he scored 14 goals and distributed four assists.

Stage in Madrid

On June 25, 2018 he said goodbye to the Flamengo and headed for the Spanish capital. The Brazilian pearl was part of Castilla at first, but quickly showed that he was ready to play with the first team. In the Madrid subsidiary he scored four goals in his five games played in Segunda B.

On September 29 of that same year he debuted with the first team against Atlético de Madrid. Entered to replace Benzema in the absence of two minutes to conclude the meeting. The match ended 0-0. His first goal as a madridista was against him Valladolid (2-0). But the Madrid coach at the time, Julen lopetegui did not give him many opportunities and came to declare “She is young, she needs cooking time”.

After the departure of the Basque coach, the attacker began to be important in Madrid with Solari, but an injury during the second leg of the round of 16 of the Champions in front of the Ajax, made him miss the rest of the 2018-19 season.

During the 2019-2020 season, under the orders of Zidane, Vinicius disputes his first full season as a first team player for Vinicius. He does not get a fixed position in the eleven and loses the prominence he had during the final stretch of the previous year, in which the team was thrown behind his back and was one of the few footballers who were saved from the bad campaign of the team . Despite this, he plays a total of 38 games, in which he scores five goals and wins his first League and one Spain Supercup, after beating the Atlético de Madrid on penalties.

In the 2020-2021 campaign, Vinicius was consecrated at Real Madrid after playing his best game as a player for the Whites. It was against him Liverpool in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League. He started at the start and scored two of the three goals that Madrid would score that night. On League He played 35 games and despite the fact that the team fought until the end for the league competition, in the end, they did not manage to win it. In the Copa del Rey they were eliminated in the round of 32 against Alcoyano (2-1). And in the continental competition he was eliminated by the Chelsea, that a posteriori came out champion.

In his three seasons as a white player he has played 118 games, has scored 15 goals and has distributed 19 assists. Being one of the young footballers with the most projection on the world scene