Arsenal have been told they are not a big enough brand to be able to sign Vinicius Jr this summer.
The Gunners presented a pitch to the Real Madrid forward in a bid to convince him to join the club, although he’s decided to sign a new six-year deal with the Spanish giants.
But there was uncertainty surrounding his long-term future at the Santiago Bernabeu. Vinicius Jr was in the final year of his previous contract this summer.
Productive talks were held with the player on Wednesday following Arsenal’s own offer of personal terms.
The Premier League champions were prepared to move for Vinicius Jr this summer if didn’t extend his stay at Real Madrid.
‘Only one club can sign Vinicius Jr’
talkSPORT’s Adam Catterall believes only one Premier League club would have the capacity to land the 26-year-old, though.
Notably, that club is not Arsenal, with Catterall instead naming Manchester United as the one side capable of doing so.
Discussing Arsenal’s interest alongside Carlton Cole, he explained earlier on Thursday: “For me, when you’re talking about brands, and when you’re talking about being able to attract the biggest, and that’s what he is, he is a brand.
“Listen, he’s a sensational footballer, but he’s a brand as well, being able to attract him to you.
“For me, there’s only one football club in the whole of the United Kingdom that could attract someone like Vinicius Jr. There’s one.
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“There’s only Manchester United as a brand that could attract him and people will come at me and say, ‘well, what about Manchester City?’
“City are around what? About 55 million, 56 million (followers)? Something like that on Instagram? Look at Real Madrid.
“This is the point Gabby (Agbonlahor) was making this morning. I know that he was making it regarding trophies and what have you, but look at the brand value.”
Gabby Agbonlahor labelled Arsenal fans ‘deluded’ for thinking they could sign Vinicius Jr on talkSPORT Breakfast earlier on Thursday morning.
The former Aston Villa striker even compared their hopes of doing the deal to himself inviting music superstar Rihanna to Birmingham for a date.
Market manipulation
When informed Real Madrid have 180 million Instagram followers, Catterall continued: “There you go. That’s how big that football club is. That’s how big that is as a worldwide entity.
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“180 million and you’re talking about him coming to a club that has 32 million followers on Instagram.
“Again, these are very basic metrics, very basic metrics, but Vinicius Jr is in a completely different stratosphere.
“All this talk about him coming to Arsenal throughout the whole course of the summer has just been manipulation from an agent trying to get the dude a few more quid. That’s what it is.
“He was never in a million years going to be an Arsenal player this summer. That’s what it is. It’s just manipulating the market.
“Let’s see if I can get some more money for my guy. Why would he come to Arsenal?”
At the time of writing, Arsenal have 32.3 million Instagram followers to their name.
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Mikel Arteta’s side are fresh from winning their first Premier League title for 22 years last season.
The Gunners also reached the Champions League final, but lost on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest.
