Threatened with leaving Real
©IMAGO
This article was first published on October 27, 2025 and was updated on Wednesday with statements from the player.
With a market value of 150 million euros, Vinicius Junior is one of the world’s most valuable footballers – and in a brief moment of anger at the weekend, he indirectly offered himself on the transfer market. Specifically, it’s about his substitution in the 2-1 Clásico win against FC Barcelona. When the Brazilian was taken down by coach Xabi Alonso in the 72nd minute, he raged on and off the pitch. The 25-year-old made a public apology on Wednesday.
At As I did personally during training today, I would like to apologize again to my teammates, the club and the president.” Explaining his behavior, he wrote: “Sometimes passion overcomes me; I always want to win and help my team. My ambition comes from my love for this club and everything it stands for. I promise to continue fighting every second for the good of Real Madrid, as I have done since day one.”
Vinicius Juniors’ freak out after substitution: “Better if I go”
After being substituted in Sunday’s Clásico, Vinicius Junior complained: “It’s always me! I’m leaving the team! It’s better if I leave. I’m leaving.” The streaming service “DAZN” captured these statements. The player tried hard on his left side, but especially the goal scorers Kylian Mbappé (22nd minute) and Jude Bellingham (43rd) left their mark on the game. Fermín López (38th) scored the interim 1-1 for Barça.
For Vinicius Junior it was the seventh substitution in his tenth starting eleven this season. He came off the bench in three other games. The attacker has 880 minutes and is therefore in sixth place in the club’s internal comparison of field players. The higher-rated Mbappé (180 million euros) has the most with 1,141 minutes. Since his move from Flamengo to Real in the summer of 2018 for 45 million euros, Vinicius Junior has played 335 games for Los Blancos and contributed 111 goals and 87 assists.
Vinicius Junior’s extension at Real Madrid is being extended
There have been rumors in the recent past that Vinicius Junior would be lured to Saudi Arabia for five years with a salary of 1 billion euros. Last March he committed to Real and hoped for a quick extension, but nothing has happened since then. The contract is still valid until 2027. If Vinicius Junior were to change clubs, he would be the second most valuable transfer in football history.
Vinicius Junior’s anger subsided during the game. After goalkeeping coach Luis Llopis followed the Brazilian into the Bernabéu catacombs and spoke to him, the player returned to the bench a few minutes later and experienced the final whistle of the Clásico with his teammates – and was right back in the middle of the pack formation immediately afterwards. The attacker had, among other things, a skirmish with Barça’s young star Lamine Yamal.
Coach Alonso played down the fuss surrounding the substitution at the press conference after the game and focused on the result. “I’m taking a lot of positive things from the game and also a lot of good things from Vini. We’ll of course talk about it afterwards. We’ll talk about these things, but we don’t want to lose sight of what’s important. Vini contributed a lot today. It’s an important and deserved win, even if it was close. We had chances to win the penalty… We’ve regained the feeling of being a competitive team in big games,” the 43-year-old is quoted as saying by “Real Total”.