Vinicius Jr’s move to Arsenal hits a new snag as a fresh issue pops up with his Real Madrid contract.
Vinicius Junior’s contract situation with Real Madrid still isn’t settled, and it’s turning out to be more complicated than people first thought. Vinicius’ current deal runs until June 2027, so he’s now in the last year of the contract he signed in 2022.
There’s talk that if Real Madrid and Vinicius can’t agree, he might move to Premier League champions Arsenal. Arsenal’s coach, Mikel Arteta, is very interested in signing the talented Brazil winger.
Vinicius’ agency, Roc Nation, pushed back against some reports, calling them “fake and harmful” and made just to get attention. They didn’t say if they meant stories about Vinicius himself or other players they represent.
Earlier, The Athletic shared that Vinicius asked for a new deal worth €30 million a year, including salary, bonuses for performance, and a renewal bonus. The renewal bonus seems to be one of the points causing disagreement. However, Vinicius, who is 26, might be willing to reduce his demands to stay at Real.
A new report from Spanish outlet AS adds another layer: Vinicius also wants a special agreement about his image rights, similar to the one Kylian Mbappe has at Real Madrid, where he gets almost 100% control over his image rights.
Vinicius currently has deals with 18 brands like Nike, Visa, PlayStation, Apple, and Gatorade. Right now, he gets 50% of his image rights under his existing contract.
In football, image rights are the unique things connected to a player’s identity, like their name, photos, voice, signature, and social media. The Premier League has strict rules about image rights, which often makes contract talks take longer. Sometimes, clubs need to negotiate both with the player and with a company that manages the player’s image rights.
Conflicts can also happen if a club sponsors one brand but the player endorses a rival brand. For example, Arsenal works with Coca-Cola, while Vinicius has a deal with Pepsi. But there’s no suggestion that this is causing problems in talks with Arsenal.
Arsenal’s sporting director, Andrea Berta, has already started discussions with Vinicius’ team. The club is waiting to see how things go with Real Madrid before possibly making one of the Premier League’s biggest signings ever.