Real Madrid are confident that Vinicius Junior will extend his stay at the club after productive talks, talkSPORT understands.
The Real Madrid superstar’s contract saga has been the biggest storyline of the transfer window, with the Gunners being heavily linked with a move for him.
talkSPORT understands the Spanish giants have held fresh talks with Vinicius over a new deal, after previous reports of a stand-off.
With his current contract expiring next summer, the 26-year-old has now have received an improved extension offer amid interest from Arsenal.
And it now appears Vinicius Jr could be edging closer to putting pen to paper on this, having been swayed by recent talks with the club.
talkSPORT reported last week the Premier League champions were weighing up an approach for Vinicius Jr.
However the Gunners are believed to view him as an option rather than their top target.
All parties want the situation to be resolved this week, with Mikel Arteta’s side prepared to launch a bid if Vinicius does not sign a new deal.
False dawn
While Real Madrid look to have taken a major step forward in keeping Vinicius Jr at the club, excitement had earlier been growing among Arsenal fans about the prospect of a world-class signing.
This followed an eye-catching recent social media move, with the Brazilian removing all posts from his Instagram page.
This page, which boasts nearly 64 million followers, currently displays no images, bio, or profile picture.
All photographs featuring his training sessions and matches for Real Madrid have been completely removed.
4
4
With social media blackouts sometimes being interpreted as a sign of a player’s dissatisfaction with their current club, Arsenal fans were quick to pounce on this.
Reacting to the move, a fan account wrote on X: “Vinicius Junior has deleted all of his Instagram posts and removed his profile picture.
“Something big is coming…”
Another commented: “Vinicius Junior has emptied his page on Instagram. What’s going on.
They followed this up writing: “Arsenal,” alongside two red heart emojis.
Responding to the news, a third user tagged Vinicius Jr’s X account and urged: “Come to Arsenal king.”
4
Back to the drawing board
While Vinicius Jr’s latest social media activity had given Arsenal fans new hope of a blockbuster transfer, everything else currently looks to be working in Real Madrid’s favour.
The Brazilian returned to Los Blancos for pre-season on Monday to undergo testing and begin training under new boss Jose Mourinho.
And after positive talks with his current employers, the Brazil star could well be looking forward to starting life under the ‘Special One’
As for Arsenal, they have still made a recent breakthrough in the transfer market, despite seemingly being dealt a blow in their pursuit of Vinicius Jr.
Greek winger Christos Tzolis has joined in a £34million deal from Club Brugge this summer, while the Gunners have now reached a £75million agreement to sign Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes.
