Man City take lead with ‘formal offer’ for Vinicius Jr as Real Madrid ‘sacrifice’ him for two signings | OneFootball

Premier League side Man City have taken the lead in the race to sign Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior, according to reports.

There were reports of tension brewing between Vinicius Jr and Xabi Alonso earlier in the season with the situation coming to a head in their loss to Barcelona in El Clasico.

However, Alonso was sacked last week by Real Madrid as they put Alvaro Arbeloa in place with rumours former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will replace the Spaniard in the summer.

When leaving the pitch in the El Clasico in October, Vinicius Jr made a scene by shouting over Alonso: “Me? Coach? Coach, me? It’s always me. I’m leaving the team. It’s better I leave.”

The Brazil international issued an apology but a bigger issue remains as Vinicius Jr continues to look to get wage parity with French superstar Kylian Mbappe.

Journalist Sacha Tavolieri insisted in November that Real Madrid are now open to selling the forward and are looking for a fee of around €150m.

Tavolieri wrote on the Swiss Sky website: ‘A major upheaval is brewing in Madrid. According to several reliable sources, Real Madrid has set Vinícius Júnior’s starting price at €150 million, following the complete breakdown of contract extension talks. The tension between the Brazilian international and coach Xabi Alonso is so high that a source close to the Real Madrid dressing room told us it was “very difficult to imagine Vinícius still at Madrid next season.”‘

And now Spanish website Fichajes claims that Premier League side Man City are ‘the clear favourites to secure the deal’ with ‘a formal offer of around €150 million already on the table’.

It is ‘a goodbye that is becoming increasingly likely’ and the report adds: ‘Real Madrid are fully aware of the situation. Vinicius will enter the summer with only one year left on his contract and no intention of renewing, which significantly reduces the club’s room for maneuver. Rejecting a €150 million offer in this context would be taking an enormous risk, both in terms of sporting and financial performance.

‘Furthermore, the sporting management believes that a sale of this magnitude would allow them to restructure the squad, strengthen several key positions, and alleviate internal tensions. The Brazilian’s departure, while painful from a symbolic standpoint, would open a new chapter for the sporting project and allow the club to preempt a larger conflict.’

Another report in Spain claims that Real Madrid would use the money from Vinicius Jr’s sale to bring in two new players in the summer.

Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams would be a direct replacement for the Brazil international, while they would also invest the money into a deal for Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

Giving an update on the latest on Vinicius Jr’s future, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said: “If Vinicius Junior’s renewal was paused, it’s also because the relationship with Xabi Alonso wasn’t spectacular. So now, let’s see what will happen.

“The club has always communicated the intention to renew Vini, and he, in the last 3-4 months, has always communicated the intention to wait a bit and see what happened with the coach situation. So, we’ll see what happens with Arbeloa, but I think this is a topic that will change, because with Xabi, renewing Vinicius was going to be complicated.”

“Optimistic about his extension? Look, for now it’s on hold, because we have to see how things will be with Arbeloa, what Real Madrid will be in the future, what will happen in the summer, if Arbeloa or another coach will be there, what kind of project it will be…

“Vini wants to be an important player; that’s the issue. I think it was paused between late September and October because the player wasn’t happy with not feeling so important. Now it’s different; he was in Xabi’s final weeks. Now there’s a new coach, and surely without Xabi Alonso it will be less complicated.”