Leaving Madrid? Vinicius makes clear his future plans

Vinicius Jr. does not want any more speculation about his future. The Brazilian striker started his sixth season at Real Madrid, a team with which he has won almost everything and which has allowed him to establish himself as a world star. The attacker arrived at the Merengue club in 2018 from Flamengo and last season he lifted the Champions League and the LaLiga title.

For the 2024/25 campaign, the winger has a new goal: to win the treble - the club's first treble - and emulate his Brazilian heroes by winning the Ballon d'Or. And in its 122 years of history, Real Madrid has not been able to win the Champions League, LaLiga and the Copa del Rey in the same season, something that FC Barcelona has done on two occasions: 2009 and 2015.

Vinicius' objectives at Real Madrid

Obviously, the priority for the Brazilian remains to win the Champions League. If he wins it, it would be his third 'orejona' and his 13th title with the merengues. In an interview with 'CNN', Vinicius said: "The first thing is the Champions League, which is the most difficult competition, followed by the League and then the Cup. Each one has its pressure because the weight of the Champions League is because it is where Real Madrid always wants to win. And not only the players, but also the fans demand that from us, to win that competition, but our objective now is to try to win everything we set out to do and finally be able to win the treble."

In addition to his desire to win more titles, the player wants to be recognized as a legend of Brazil and be on par with players like Ronaldo Nazário, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Marta and Kaká, who have all been recognized at some point as the best footballer in the world. "I have to talk about Marta, who is the greatest to have ever played. I have great affection for her because I think she changed the sport and put women's football at the level it deserves. Women's football is growing every day and Marta was one of the pioneers," he said.

"And as for the male players, I have Kaká as an example, I have Ronaldo who won the award twice, I have Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, a lot of Brazilian players who have won the Ballon d'Or. But without a doubt, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are the ones I have closest to me, the ones who tell me every day that I have to win the Ballon d'Or," said the Real Madrid winger. Everything points to him being one of the candidates for the award, after finishing last season as the top scorer for Carlo Ancelotti's team with 24 goals and 11 assists and sealing the Merengues' triumph in the UCL.

Saudi Arabia's offer

In recent weeks there has been talk of Saudi Arabia's interest in taking him out of Spain with a spectacular offer of 1,000 million euros over five seasons. This would make him the highest-paid player in the world and would be a considerable increase to his salary of 20 million euros per season at Real Madrid. However, the Spanish capital has been blunt: Vinicius will not leave.

The only way for the team to accept the transfer would be if the Saudis paid the player's 1,000 million euro release clause, something that will not happen, despite the fact that Vinicius has no intention of extending his contract with the Merengue team. His commitment ends in 2027 and his entourage is not expected to sit down to negotiate an extension with the board soon. The intention is to wait to see how events develop before securing his long-term future.

But this should not scare Real Madrid fans, because the Brazilian said he feels very "happy and committed" in Spain. "I always play to be among the best and, every day that passes at Real Madrid, I feel more confident. I have already won two Champions Leagues and I play with others who have already won six - [Dani] Carvajal has also won six - and they motivate us every day to play beyond our limits and that everything is possible with the team we have now," he concluded.