Vini Jr: 'Everyone at Real Madrid would love to play with Mbappe'

Suraj Radia

• 14 Oct 2023 17:37 BST
• 4 min read

Vinicius Junior has admitted that everyone at Real Madrid wants to play with Kylian Mbappe as the speculation surrounding the Paris Saint-Germain forward’s future refuses to die down.

Mbappe has long-been linked with a move to Real, having turned down the chance to move there in 2022 before opting against extending his contract at PSG in order to potentially join the Spaniards next summer on a free transfer.

Despite their interest, Real resisted the temptation to push too hard for Mbappe this summer and the 24-year-old will see out the season with PSG, having initially been told to leave the club after he refused to take up the option to extend his contract for another season.

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Speaking to L'Equipe, Vini admitted he had been messaging Jude Bellingham ‘for months’ prior to the England star joining Real this summer and the 23-year-old was coy when asked if he had been giving the same treatment to Mbappe.

Vini said: “No, it's different! Kylian has his situation. With Jude he knew he could move in this summer. And it's perfect that it happened like this.

“But here everyone wants to play with Kylian. I hope it happens one day, hopefully. He is one of the best players, perhaps the best of all today. He's on a level of his own!"

The turbulent history between Real, PSG and Mbappe

Real have been desperate to sign Mbappe but their interest has been the cause of anger for PSG, who have no interest in selling the forward to Los Blancos and are hoping to convince their talisman to pen a new deal with the French side.

Mbappe signed a two-year deal with PSG to become the highest-paid athlete in the world last summer after reneging on an agreement to join Real, which angered the La Liga giants.

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However, tensions have since cooled with Mbappe and Real and there is a belief that the player does want to move to Spain – speculation that increased when the French captain announced this summer that he would not be taking up the 12-month option in his contract.

The decision caught PSG off guard and they tried to force the forward to leave, even accepting a world-record offer from Al-Hilal, however Mbappe refused to enter talks and insisted he would see out the season with his club, which prompted the Ligue 1 side to back down and reintegrate the ex-Monaco man to the first team.

Real, meanwhile, opted against making a big money replacement for Karim Benzema, who moved to Saudi Arabia in the summer, with veteran striker Joselu joining on loan as a stop-gap, either for Endrick who will join from Palmeiras next summer when he turns 18, or potentially Mbappe once his contract at PSG expires.

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