Real Madrid are believed to be increasingly confident of keeping Brazilian superstar Vinicius Jr at the Bernabeu after offering him improved terms.
The 26-year-old forward has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal this summer but Jose Mourinho, back for a second spell in the Spanish capital, wants him to stay to help with his rebuild.
Madrid are believed to have offered Vinicius Jr a hefty salary increase which could see him earn a staggering £18.5million (€22m)-per-year (£355k-a-week) against the backdrop of keen interest in the player from the Premier League champions.
Despite the increased confidence at the Bernabeu, the player added to the uncertainty on Wednesday night by deleting his entire Instagram history.
Vinicius’ page, which has 63.9million followers, currently displays no images or bio and he’s also removed his profile picture.
The dramatic move – not uncommon among footballers – could be interpreted in a number of different ways but typically can be interpreted as dissatisfaction with the current club.
Vinicius Junior in training with Real Madrid this week as the transfer saga takes another twist
Vinicius Jr deleted all the content from his Instagram, which was mostly Real Madrid related
All of the Real Madrid training and playing images that featured prominently on his account have now gone.
Waiting in the wings and hoping to capitalise on the situation are Arsenal.
The Gunners made initial enquiries into the player last week, with manager Mikel Arteta insisting that the Premier League winners will be ‘very ambitious’ during the summer’s transfer window.
But reports on Wednesday suggested Madrid were bullish about their chances of seeing off interest from north London – particularly with Mourinho’s backing.
One of the major sticking points in negotiations between Real and Vinicius’ camp has been the re-signing fee.
But the latest increase in their offer has left Real confident that Vinicius Jr will commit his future to the Spanish giants.
Real do not want to lose the Brazilian on a free, with his contract set to expire in less than a year.
The player is thought to view any contract he signs with Los Blancos, where he has played since 2018, as the defining deal of his career – and recognition of his efforts for the club that in recent seasons have seen him become a Ballon d’Or contender in their colours.
Vinicius returned to join his team-mates at their pre-season camp on Monday to undergo the standard start-of-season medical tests and train for the first time under new manager Mourinho.
Arteta meanwhile has remained upbeat about his plans for the rest of the window, following the £34m signing of Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge.
‘We expect to have movements in the next few weeks, obviously,’ Arteta said following Arsenal’s pre-season friendly against Girona.
‘We want to get better like anybody else, and you can see the transfer market and our opponents… We won’t sit still and we are very ambitious with what we are doing.
‘The margins are very small. Because we want to get better and the level is going to increase.
‘We need to increase the competition internally. We need to make sure we identify the things that we don’t have in the team.’
