Or try to pursue a potential transfer to Arsenal, who, as The Athletic reported on July 25, have been readying an ambitious move<\/a> if he and Madrid fail to reach an agreement.<\/p>\n Madrid and Vinicius Jr first held talks over an extension to his contract \u2014 which expires at the end of June next year \u2014 back in January 2025.<\/p>\n After many months of uncertainty over his future, we seem set for the decisive play.<\/p>\n What should he do? Our writers give their views.<\/p>\n He should stay \u2014 but it\u2019s close<\/p>\n I would love to see Vinicius Jr in the Premier League. He\u2019s such a dynamic, thrilling player and it\u2019s only natural to wonder how he might fare in English football and to relish the prospect of his battles with full-backs and defences up and down the country.<\/p>\n Adding his attacking virtues to an incredibly resilient Arsenal team would theoretically add up to something really special, too. He would bring a forcefulness and goalscoring threat<\/a> that Mikel Arteta\u2019s side have rarely had in that wide left position.<\/p>\n Should he? It depends what\u2019s important to him. Were he to play for this Arsenal side, it\u2019s easier to imagine him winning the kind of trophies that would add up to that coveted Ballon d\u2019Or<\/a>. Real Madrid are the bigger club, but Arsenal are the better team \u2014 they\u2019re probably closer to winning the Champions League next season.<\/p>\n \n Real Madrid were knocked out in the Champions League quarter-finals by Bayern Munich last season (Adam Pretty\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n But the Premier League is a slog physically \u2014 in the conditioning sense<\/a> and because skilful ball-carriers attract a lot of attention, deadening the legs and dimming the attacking lights. Few illustrate that point better than Bukayo Saka, who has struggled with injuries over the past couple of seasons<\/a>.<\/p>\n Being part of Real Madrid\u2019s forward line next season could be great fun. Kylian Mbappe scored 42 goals for the club last season and Yan Diomande is on his way for a deal worth up to \u20ac140million<\/a> (\u00a3120m; $161.7m). What a trio they could be, with Jude Bellingham to fit in too. If those combinations fire, that might well be a \u2018once in a career\u2019 type of situation that nobody should walk away from.<\/p>\n He should stay \u2014 but it\u2019s close.<\/p>\n Sebastian Stafford-Bloor<\/p>\n If anyone can tempt him, it\u2019s Arsenal<\/p>\n I too would love to see a forward of his quality in the Premier League, but there is a reason players rarely leave Real Madrid if they have a choice \u2014 it would be a step down.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not talking about the quality of the team: Arsenal have been stronger than Madrid over the last couple of seasons, underlined by results in the Champions League. But when it comes to the size of the club, the prestige, the glamour and offering a player the perfect stage \u2014 the weather, the lifestyle and all of that \u2014 Madrid is more attractive than any English club, particularly for a Brazilian player.<\/p>\n Would Vini Jr. be worth it for Arsenal?<\/p>\n JJ Bull<\/p>\n Unless Arsenal were prepared to blow Madrid out of the water in terms of the contract offer, I would expect him to stay in Spain. But what I would say in Arsenal\u2019s favour is that right now, relative to the rest of the Premier League and the rest of Europe, they are a more attractive proposition than they have ever been.<\/p>\n They can\u2019t match Liverpool\u2019s or Manchester United\u2019s history, and in the last couple of decades they have often been blown away by Chelsea\u2019s and Manchester City\u2019s financial power, but their improvement under Mikel Arteta \u2014 plus the London factor, plus dysfunction and uncertainty elsewhere \u2014 makes them the most compelling proposition in English football right now.<\/p>\n Oliver Kay<\/p>\n Would staying make Madrid worse?<\/p>\n If he stays, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s actually the worst news in the world for Real Madrid\u2019s rivals.<\/p>\n Club president Florentino Perez would be securing one of the world\u2019s best attacking individuals for the foreseeable future. But it would also leave plenty of questions to answer for the team.<\/p>\n Madrid might feel they need to go all out to keep Vinicius Jr, but what about the tactical fit? A lot has been said about the lack of defensive effort in a line-up stacked with huge offensive stars, and Vinicius Jr and Mbappe were often singled out. Will they improve off the ball? Or will it get worse with Diomande coming in? Can they still get the best out of Bellingham?<\/p>\n \n Real Madrid have a star-studded attacking line-up, but it hasn\u2019t always been the most functional (Adam Pretty\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n The signing of Diomande is another interesting point. You might think he would take the right-wing slot, but I can\u2019t see the ego situation in that squad calming down. No big names have left the club in a dressing room that seemed broken last season, when captain Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni got into a fight after a training session.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t intend to deny Vinicius Jr\u2019s talent, but a lucrative sale looked like a very logical path for Madrid to follow. A new contract may just confirm next season\u2019s Madrid as another impossible dressing room to handle. Good luck to Jose Mourinho.<\/p>\n If I were Vinicius Jr, I would leave for Arsenal. (But from a Barcelona point of view, I\u2019d be happy if he stays.)<\/p>\n Pol Ball\u00fas<\/p>\n Where else could he make this history?<\/p>\n There is an obvious point: how can you go any higher than Real Madrid?<\/p>\n True, Arsenal are Premier League champions and were a penalty shootout away from Champions League glory last season. Madrid went a second consecutive season without winning a major trophy in a mess of a campaign that ended in literal infighting.<\/p>\n But the Spanish side are the record 15-time European champions, one of the two undisputed biggest clubs in world football (along with Barcelona) and have spent this transfer window recruiting a host of exciting stars \u2014 including Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva and Diomande<\/a> \u2014 as the Mourinho revolution begins.<\/p>\n \n This mural by Italian artist Salvatore Benintende, aka TV BOY, appeared outside the Bernabeu in late May (Oscar del Pozo\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Brazilians such as Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and Marcelo have written their names into the history books at the Bernabeu, but Vinicius Jr could surpass them all. He is already the highest-scoring Brazilian in Madrid\u2019s history with 128 goals and was the man who helped deliver their last two Champions League titles, scoring a goal in the finals of 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n![\"Vinicius](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2271634231-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Vinicius](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2270954437-scaled.jpg\")
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