Vinicius focused on shining under Mourinho, not Arsenal transfer rumours

Vinicius Junior's full focus is on playing his best football under new Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, amid speculation that he is attracting interest from Arsenal.

Vinicius has emerged as a key player for Los Blancos during his eight years in Spain, helping them win 14 trophies including two Champions Leagues and three LaLiga titles. 

But his future has been questioned this summer, with Premier League champions Arsenal reportedly interested in a transfer that could be worth in the region of €150m (£128m).

Vinicius did not see eye-to-eye with Xabi Alonso during the now-Chelsea boss' short-lived spell in charge of Madrid last season, though he had a better relationship with Alvaro Arbeloa, who was at the helm for the second half of the campaign.

The Brazilian scored 22 goals and supplied 10 assists in all competitions last season (excluding the Club World Cup), though his 32 total goal involvements were his fewest in a single campaign for Madrid since 2020-21 (10). 

The return of Mourinho as Madrid's head coach also led to questions regarding Vinicius' role, given the Special One's defence-first approach, while there have also been suggestions he cannot play effectively in the same frontline as Kylian Mbappe.

But, at least for the time being, Vinicius' sole focus is on preparing for Madrid's LaLiga opener versus Espanyol on August 22.

"It's gone very well, meeting the new coach and the new players and training very hard," Vinicius told Madrid's media channels when asked about his pre-season.

"Mourinho wants me to be as I've always been; happy, cheerful, and playing my football.

"We have to prepare physically so that during the season we have fewer injuries and we can count on everybody.

"[Monday] was a double session, [Tuesday] is one session. So, let’s go. Today we did a bit of work in the gym and a short session to load our legs some more.

"It was a good training session and we all left very tired, but now it's time to rest for tomorrow. Pre-season is like this. We have to be prepared."

Vinicius was Brazil's outstanding player at the World Cup, scoring four goals and assisting one in five outings, though he was unable to prevent their round-of-16 defeat to Norway.