By Tony Attwood

So are Arsenal about to sign Vinícius Júnior?  Well, some of the media think so, and other think that Arsenal already have.   Obviously as a regular supporter I won’t know until it is actually confirmed, but just in case this one is right – or by the time I have finished typing this he has signed – here’s some details.   If he doesn’t sign, you can blame me for writing this, but really it won’t do much good.  And actually I was rather pleased to find out some more about this player.   He sounds very interesting.

His full name is Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior, which if he does sign, you can chant if you wish but I suspect not.  The Junior bit is added because he has the same name as his father.

He’s 26 years old, so presumably at the peak of his power, he is Brazilian so will be popping off to play in internationals regularly, which will be a pain, he’s only one inch taller than me (5 feet 9 inches) and he is a left winger.  He has played around 250 times for Real Madrid.   Now as you will know only two teams can win the Spanish league, and one of them is Real Mad.  Except they didn’t this past season, they came second, which is why they are in the market.

Anyway, our man, if he is our man, has played 54 times for Brazil.  When writing about him Wiki says he is “Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his pace, technique, and dribbling ability.”  So there really are a few teams I personally wouldn’t let him play against. 

He signed for Real Madrid on this 18th birthday (as per the rules in Spain) for around £40m, which was a fee second only to Neymar, and from there it has been success all the way and in 2024/5 he was voted the best FIFA Men’s Player and well, he’s won loads of trophies and awards.  In England we migt recall that he provided the pass for his club to wallop ManC in the Champions League.  But of course he also plays for Brazil, which means whichever club he is with will keep on losing him from time to time.

He’s been described as a “second striker” which is a concept that sounds as if it can fit into Arsenal’s approach very well, although he will of course take some time to get used to Premier League refereeing which is somewhat different from that in other countries.

But of course there are always criticisms, and indeed he has been criticised in Spain – which is rather good I think as he will be ready for whatever nonsense the English football media throw at him – and there will be a lot of it, if he does sign for Arsenal.

Indeed the Spanish press have already written the copy that the English media can use: a lack of discipline, and that greatest of crimes in England – a lack of sporsmahship.  He has been booked for things he says, but if he continues to say them in Spanish and Portugues he might get away with it.   Arsenal also need to stop him from learning Englsih as he is likely to be subjected to a lot a abuse from English crowds.   In Spain effigy’s of him have been hanged from bridges, so he’s probably used to the sort of things some nutters will send his way if he does join us.   Real Madrid are said to have reported a stream of hate crimes to the Spanish police – I wonder if Arsenal are ready to do that.

But he has been very solid in his support from the fight against racism in Spain, and it is just possible he will find England more accommodating in this regard.  Senior figures in Spanish football do condemn racism but I am not always sure the authorities follow up on this.   He has been awarded the Sócrates Award for humanitarian work by a footballer including for his work funding a school for disadvantaged children in Brazilian cities,  and he is an UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Education.

I would imagine that if Arsenal are signigng him, as is being reported, they will also be putting in place a team who will be charting and reporting racist abuse at matches in England.   

Last season he played 36 league games and scored 16 goals.  He also played a variety cup matches of course giving him a total of 53 appearances and 22 goals.

Of course if I have got all this wrong and he is not signging for Arsenal, my apologies – but still he seems a very interesting young man and I found it worth reading up on him.   But if we do get him, that could be quite a signging.