Reports: Real Madrid and Barcelona fighting over Brazilian wonderkid

What’s the Story?

Real Madrid and Barcelona have picked up their interest in signing youth South American talents from the source directly, and the latest to catch their eye is Vinicius Junior, a 16-year-old who is already being touted as the next big thing in Brazilian Football. The Flamengo youngster has already made five appearances for the Brazil U-17 team and has scored

In case you didn’t know

Currently leading the line for Brazil’s U-17 side in the Sudamericano U-17 tournament, the strapping young lad is fast, brilliant on the ball and a ruthless finisher. He has in fact already signed a contract with Flamengo that has an inbuilt 30-million Euro release clause. Capable of playing across the front line, he’s been impressive for Flamengo’s youth team, and is expected to break into the first team by the start of next season.

The heart of the matter

The Real Madrid youth coaches that have seen Vinicius play have admitted that the player is of the kind that come along only “once every ten or twenty years”. Considering this keen attention on Madrid’ s part is also reflected by Barcelona. A shy under 6 foot tall, and light on his feet, the interest from both camps is understandable.

Also, Read: OFFICIAL: Real Madrid beat Barcelona to the signing of Spanish wonderkid

What Next?

Vinicius turns 18 only in the summer of 2018, and hence the European super clubs can only ‘officially’ sign him next summer. This, however, has never stopped either Madrid or Barcelona from doing everything they can to guarantee a youngster’s signature. In fact, Barcelona are currently in hot water over the background of the transfer of Neymar from Santos.

Coming back to Vinicius, for those still doubting the hype, here’s another video of him: this time a compilation of him and the man he is touted to step into the shoes of: Neymar Jr.

Author’s Take

Brazilian wonder kids keep coming every now and then and most barely live up to the hype. This constant stream of prodigies seems to have dulled most of to news such as this, but Vinicius’ displays in the junior teams of both Flamengo and Brazil have done nothing but boost the expectations.

He will now have to be careful to not let the hype get to his head. As Neymar has proven, this is very much possible, and come the summer of 2018, he could just be the subject of the hottest transfer rumours.