All over the world teenagers dream about playing for Real Madrid and the Flamengo striker Vinícius Júnior is no different. What sets him apart from pretty much every other teenager, however, is that he has already signed a pre-contract with Real, who in July last year agreed to pay a staggering €45m (£39m) for the 17-year-old.
The world was stunned but having missed out on Neymar, who joined Barcelona in 2013, Real were taking no chances with Vinícius Júnior. In many ways he is – or is expected to become – the next Neymar. It is an extraordinary pressure to live with but Vinícius Júnior seems to be coping well. For someone who has had agents circling since he was 10, and long been hailed as the next superstar to come out of Brazil, he seems remarkably grounded. There is no arrogance, no sense of entitlement and no hint he has let attention and fame go to his head.
Rather the contrary. He is polite, mature and engaging company in his first international interview since agreeing that remarkable transfer at a time when he had not yet made his first appearance for Flamengo.
“I know I am still no one and I have done nothing so far,” he says. And to a certain extent he is right. Compared with the players he wants to emulate – Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo in particular – he has achieved nothing. But compared with other teenagers he has not done too badly, making his debut for Flamengo at 16 and being voted the player of the tournament at the Under-17 South American Championship, during which he scored seven goals to lead Brazil to the title.
Vinícius Júnior is modest but that does not stop him from aiming high. “I want to become one of the best players in football and win a World Cup. I want to reach my goals and make my family proud,” he says.
According to Fifa rules he is allowed to join Real when he turns 18 on 12 July and, although he could be loaned back to Flamengo for the 2018-19 season, he is already looking forward to joining up with Ronaldo, Casemiro and Marcelo for pre-season training. But his desire is to work with another Brazilian too.
“If God wants, Neymar and I will play together at Real Madrid. I would definitely be in favour of him moving to Madrid because it would be my big dream to play in the same side as Neymar. He is my idol in football. If had a chance to play with him, I would feel very happy.”
Ronaldo is another inspiration. “Every day, I say thank you for being blessed with the gift of playing football. The dream of any player is to have the gift but very few have. I have been given this gift and my desire to improve is even stronger. In this respect, Cristiano Ronaldo is my inspiration. I admire what he has been doing for the last 10 years, playing at such a high level. It is not just talent and quality but hard work too. I hope to be able to tell him that one day.”
There is excitement at the thought of moving to Europe but there is a little apprehension, too. The terror attacks are well covered in Brazil and Vinícius Júnior is worried. “I am concerned about terrorism because I don’t know what to do, where to run. This isn’t a problem where I can predict. It’s very hard.”
But it is not as if Brazil is without problems. Vinícius Júnior was born in São Gonçalo, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Violence and crime are something people have to face every day. For many, it is a scary situation and there is even an app called OTT (Onde Tem Tiroteio or Where There Are Shootouts) where you track in real time if have there are any shootings in the city.
Vinícius Júnior is no different to other people from Rio. He fears the violence too and after signing for Real his first decision was to move all his relatives out of São Gonçalo to the western side of Rio, where he has lived since 2013.
“This is one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. I lived for 13 years in São Gonçalo. I know how hard it is to live there. I saw a lot of shootings because I lived close to a favela. I feared for my brother and what could happen to him. The dream of many people like me, who live in a poor city, is moving to a better place with better conditions.”Vinícius Júnior is a teenager – and he acts like one. All the time he uses social media and interacts with friends. He is not the first youngster who has made a big move to Real and will not be the last.
Kyllian Mbappé and Martin Odegaard are two other teenagers but whereas the Frenchman has done well at Paris Saint-Germain, the Norwegian has struggled to cope with the pressure and is on loan at Heerenveen where he is not even a regular starter.
Vinícius Júnior admits the pressure has increased since the move to Real was announced. “A big change in my life is that supporters expect a lot from me, even more now they know for how much I was sold. Every day there is the same talk and at times you are criticised but you have to understand all the situations [and not get dragged into it]. I talk a lot to my father about the fact even Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar can have a bad game every now and then. So, why can’t I have a bad game once?”The expectation and the criticism is already a reality and so, sadly, is another problem: racism. Since his debut for Flamengo, he has been the target of racist abuse twice, both times when he was playing against Botafogo. “We are a country who has all colours, all kinds of people. It’s so sad. The main problem isn’t me but I feel more worried about my family. Football arguably has a bigger problem with racism than society as a whole because there is so much envy in football and my family suffers a lot. I don’t suffer racist abuse on a daily basis because people know me, they know I am a footballer but my family suffers a lot. I think Fifa could react stronger when there is a problem. There are a lot of children watching football and they just want to see a good game, not racism in any form. It is a bad thing which affects the game as well as our society.”
Away from the problems, there is an unbelievable excitement at what lies ahead. There is not only Real on the horizon but also, potentially, a World Cup. On 14 May, Tite will announce the 23 players who will represent Brazil in Russia.
The Guardian Sport
