Reports: Barcelona had deal agreed to sign Real Madrid star

What’s the rumour?

Barcelona and Real Madrid have been stealing each other's targets for a long time now and something similar happened in last summer too. Blaugrana were the ones who suffered this time as Madrid made a swift move and signed the player despite the Catalan side agreeing a deal.

Reports in Cadena Cope (via Football Espana) claim that Barcelona had a deal in place to sign Vinicius Junior while he was still at Flamengo. The Brazilian was snapped up by Madrid instead in March 2017 and the forward joined them in the summer of 2018 – after turning 18.

In case you didn’t know…

Vinicius made his first team Madrid full debut last night when the 13-time Champions League winners. He's played just 12 minutes in LaLiga and the fans were asking Lopetegui to play him more but the manager was sacked earlier this week.

The heart of the matter

Barcelona spotted him at the South American Under-17 and started scouting him. They reportedly made a move for him but could not sign him on time.

Real Madrid swooped in and agreed a deal with the player and the club. Cadena Cope also report that Madrid paid €45 million for the player and another €16 million as agent fees and as a reward to his family!

Rumour probability: 7/10

Cadena Cope are quite reliable and is highly possible that they are spot on once again. They have got some exclusives right for some time and with Madrid news, they are first most of the time.

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What’s next?

Barcelona need to sign a long-term replacement for Luis Suarez and Vinicius would have been the ideal one. He's got the pace and skills to be successful at Camp Nou. He's on the ideal age as well to be Suarez's understudy and then become their #1 choice in 2-3 years from now.