Arsenal’s transfer interest in Vinicius Junior stems from a key stumbling block in the Brazilian’s protracted contract negotiations with Real Madrid. The 26-year-old is one of the most recognisable names in world football, but his current deal at the Bernabeu expires at the end of next season and he may leave on a free if no agreement can be reached in the next few weeks.
That’s where Arsenal come in, as potential beneficiaries of the situation. Sporting director Andrea Berta is leading the pursuit, as the Gunners have been trying to bring in a left-winger to replace Leandro Trossard and possibly Gabriel Martinelli, with the latter’s international team-mate top of the list.
Madrid thought that they would have secured a contract agreement with Vinicius Jr by this stage. They have even presented a weekly wage that the player finds acceptable, according to the Daily Mail.
But their agreement is missing just one key ingredient.
The two parties are yet to come to terms on any signing-on fee, a factor deemed as crucial as any other when it comes to renegotiating terms.
The distance between the two parties is considered the reason why Vinicius Jr has not committed his future to the club, opening the door to Arsenal.
He did return to Real Madrid training on Monday and was pictured arriving at the training ground and undergoing medical tests.
Arsenal’s only incoming business so far this window has been making Piero Hincapie’s loan move permanent, in addition to the signings of Christos Tzolis and Illan Meslier.
“We expect to have movements in the next few weeks, obviously,” Arteta said. “We want to get better like anybody else, and you can see the transfer market and our opponents… We won’t sit still and we are very ambitious with what we are doing.
“The margins are very small. Because we want to get better and the level is going to increase. We need to increase the competition internally. We need to make sure we identify the things that we don’t have in the team.
“A lot is happening. From ownership to the board, the sporting director and myself, we know that we want to take this club to a different level.
“That is going to require a better squad, better individuals. We have identified where we have opportunities to grow and to improve and to evolve our game and what is going to be needed to achieve that.
“Hopefully very soon we can start to put things in a very concrete way. Excellence has to be our standard and this has to drive to attack the future. The way we behave daily with more and more determination and ambition because we’ve shown that we’ve got it.
“Now we have to show that we belong to this level and we want to increase and take this football club to a different dimension.”