Why Vinicius Junior's demands could see Real Madrid call his bluff

For some while now, rumours have suggested that Rodrygo could be surplus to requirements at Real Madrid, however, it may be his countryman, Vinicius Jr., that is first out of the Santiago Bernabeu exit door.

That's because it's understood that the player's salary demands are making it very difficult for the club to keep hold of him, not least because of a poor level of performance across the 2024/25 season.

Things haven't worked in attack for Real Madrid

Since Kylian Mbappe arrived, strange as it may seem, for long periods of the 2024/25 campaign, things didn't really 'work out' up front for Los Blancos. 

The Frenchman had scored for fun and won the Pichichi for LaLiga's top scorer in his first season in the Spanish top-flight, as well as the European Golden Boot, and yet it counted for nothing as Barcelona won the league and Spanish cup - beating Real in the final - with Paris Saint-Germain landing the Champions League for the first time in their history.

Plenty of times in the season we saw both Mbappe and Vini Jr going for the same ball and making the same runs, often getting in each other's way in so doing.

With fingers not generally being pointed in Mbappe's direction, it's worth looking at whether there's been a drop-off in Vini's level.

A year ago, he was being spoken about as the favourite for the Ballon d'Or, and now the headlines are generally about his disruptive personality - which would feed into the narrative about his extortionate financial demands.

Just 12 goals last season for Vini Jr.

In 39 games during the 24/25 season, he started 31 of them, being sub for the other eight and subbed off on 14 occasions. Though only a small portion of those matches were spent on the bench, and Carlo Ancelotti could reasonably make an argument for rotation, taking him off so many times was still a big call from the Italian.

That said, it was in keeping with the previous campaign when Vini played just 29 times in all competitions, starting in 25 of them but being subbed off on 17 occasions.

Vinicius Junior LaLiga Stats 2024/25Flashscore

An elite striker is handsomely remunerated for their efforts in front of goal, though as we can see, Vini's 12 goals from 24/25 is six less than he managed in 2023/24. Yes, his assist count went up from five to 12, and if Mbappe is taking up the slack, some would argue there's no issue.

However, goals are a striker's currency, and 12 goals in all competitions from one of the best forwards in the world simply isn't good enough.

Even Barcelona's Ferran Torres, who was essentially the back-up to Robert Lewandowski, managed 10 goals last season.

Disciplinary issues continue to burden the Brazilian

11 yellow cards and one red is also more than the eight yellows he received in 23/24, and whilst it's ostensibly true that the player has been subjected to a disgusting amount of abuse from the terraces, in order to remain effective on the pitch he needs to stay out of trouble and ignore the idiots in the stands when doing so.

Passing has never really been Vini's strong point, though his 79.8% accuracy last season is only .1% worse than the previous campaign and is a passable percentage. When one considers that almost all of his teammates average in the 80-90% range in this regard, however, it's difficult to make a case in terms of overlooking that particular shortcoming.

Vinicius Junior Passes 2024/25Opta by Stats Perform

The one saving grace, which he rarely seems to be given credit for, is his defensive responsibilities. 30 tackles made last season doesn't sound like a lot, but when Mbappe is only posting eight tackles for an entire season - way less than anyone else - thank God for the Brazilian's industry in helping out his defence and midfield.

Al Hilal have a £1bn contract waiting

Still only 25 and having won everything whilst at Real Madrid, there should be plenty more to come from Vini Jr., though with a £1bn contract being offered by Al Hilal, as well as the opportunity to become the Saudi Pro League's new poster boy, Florentino Perez might consider it the right time to do the unthinkable.

Indeed, it's understood that the player's entourage are using the proposed deal from the Middle Eastern giant to get the Spanish club to significantly up Vini Jr's current Real salary, effectively backing the club into a corner which is never a good strategy. Though the player himself appears to be making all the right noises.

For all of his evident skill and ability, and despite the fact that he's still a few years from reaching his peak, there's little doubt that Vini Jr. brings baggage along with him - and just isn't at the level right now that a club like Real Madrid need him to be.

That more and more of the talk surrounding him is not centred around his exploits on the pitch speaks volumes and has seemingly forced the club hierarchy to re-evaluate their position.

That could be bad news for a player that could still have the footballing world at his feet if he really wanted to.