The situation
This Wednesday marks the fourth anniversary of the presentation of Vinicius Jr. as a Real Madrid player. It was the year 2018, but the truth is that he had already been signed since 2016. The Brazilian at that time was 16 years old (he could not land in the Spanish capital until he was of legal age), but Madrid had already paid his release clause termination of 45 million euros. There were many teams behind him, so the board was quick to confirm the signing. Juni Calafat, head of recruitment for the white club in Brazil , was key in this operation as he was the one who discovered it . Coming from the Brazilian Flamengo, Vinicius appeared before 3,500 spectators at the Bernabéu in what was supposed to be a signing with incredible potential. In the first games of the 2018-2019 season, Vinicius alternated calls with the first team and with Real Madrid Castilla . However, from the club they quickly saw that Second Division B was too small for them. Little by little he made his way into the first team, until a torn external knee ligament stopped his progression that season . 3 goals and 12 assists were his numbers that season.
The details
In his second and third seasons he took a small step back in his performance, even leading some to doubt that he had the necessary level to be a starting player at Real Madrid. His overflow was spectacular, he left any defender, but his definition inside the area both in front of goal and when assisting left something to be desired. 5 goals and 4 assists were his numbers in 2019-2020 and 6 goals and 7 assists in 2020-2021. Low numbers for a player from whom so much was expected . However, the 2021-2022 season has been that of his explosion , being key in achieving the League and the Champions League for Real Madrid.