EXCLUSIVE: Vinicius Junior to Saudi for world-record fee

Duncan Castles

Updated: 3 Oct 2024 10:18 CDT
4 min read

Real Madrid are prepared to sell Vinicius Junior to the Saudi Pro League for a world record fee, the Transfers Podcast has learned.

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The 24-year-old is not entirely happy in Spanish football given the extensive racist abuse he has faced in various stadiums but rejected an initial Saudi approach last summer.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to position Vinicius as the new face of their league in the near future when Cristiano Ronaldo departs the scene, with the Portugal legend’s occasional misbehaviour causing a certain amount of tension in the Middle East.

Vinicius is understood to have been offered a post-tax pay packet of up to €1 BILLION across the duration of a five-year stay in Saudi Arabia last summer and it is known that Madrid were not entirely opposed to letting him go.

Florentino Perez’s club understand Vini’s unhappiness in LaLiga and expect Saudi Arabia to try again for his signature.

It would take a world record sum to convince Los Blancos, with the bar set at the fee paid by Paris Saint-Germain to Barca for Neymar back in 2017.

“Real Madrid are not actively trying to sell Vinicius,” Duncan Castles tells the Transfers Podcast. “But they know that in terms of securing a high transfer fee, nobody is going to be able to outbid the Saudi Pro League.

“They also know these salary offers have been placed in front of the player and there's been a degree of interest.

“If he accedes to that invitation, they're prepared to sell them if they can get a fee commensurate with the kind of salary that's being offered to Vinicius.

“And the trigger point is a world-record transfer fee exceeding the €222m that PSG paid for Neymar several seasons ago.”

© IMAGO - Neymar holds the transfer record

The mega deal has potential implications for Manchester City, who were kept aware of developments involving Vinicius during the summer transfer window.

With Julian Alvarez joining Atletico Madrid for €90m, Pep Guardiola considered adding another forward to his ranks with Real star Rodrygo the target of his efforts.

Talks took place between Rodrygo and City and the player was receptive to the move.

The Brazilian has been impacted by the arrivals of both Kylian Mbappe and Endrick with there being a possibility of him leaving the Santiago Bernabeu.

However, Madrid requested Rodrygo to wait to decide his future until the Vinicius situation developed more clearly and when the Saudi deal collapsed Rodrygo ultimately stayed put.

“Rodrygo remains the principal option for Manchester City to strengthen in attack,” says Duncan Castles.