‘There’s no going back… it happened to Ozil too’

Vinicius Junior would swiftly regret joining Arsenal and should stay at Real Madrid even if he is not a starter, according to a Champions League winner for Los Blancos.

Predrag Mijatovic, who scored the only goal when Madrid beat Juventus in the 1998 Champions League final, says Vinicius Junior should extend his contract beyond 2027 and end Arsenal’s hopes of signing the 26-year-old.

“It’s better to be second choice at Real Madrid, even if you’re behind [Kylian] Mbappe, than first at any other team in the world.” Mijatovic told El Larguero (via Mundo Deportivo).

“This is exactly what can happen to Vinicius or anyone else who has left: you leave upset, angry because you’re not valued and so on… I’ve heard all these stories 1,500 times.

“And then you run into this same player 20 days or a month later in London, Paris or wherever, and the first thing he says is ‘my God – how wrong I was.’”

Vinicius Junior: Why Madrid hero says Brazil star should stay

Mijatovic claimed that even Mesut Ozil, who left Madrid for Arsenal in 2013 because he believed head coach Carlo Ancelotti did not believe in him, rued the switch.

Ozil made the decision after Ancelotti succeeded current Madrid boss Jose Mourinho and went on to establish himself as one of the finest playmakers in Premier League history during almost nine years at Arsenal.

“When you want to go back, there’s no going back,” said Mijatovic, the winner of the Liga Best Foreign Player award in 1996 and the Ballon d’Or runner-up in 1997 as part of a three-year spell with Madrid.

“And all for two or three million euros. Which is a lot of money, but with 20 million you live exactly the same. I’ve experienced this myself and it happened to Ozil, too.”

Also a Liga and Spanish Super Cup winner with Madrid, Mijatovic left to spend two seasons at Fiorentina, winning the Italian Cup before finishing his career with Levante.

Vinicius Junior transfer news: What the forward says

Vinicius Junior said on Tuesday that Mourinho had told him his expectations during gruelling training sessions after the forward’s return from the World Cup with Brazil.

Mourinho met Vinicius Junior for the first time since his reappointment in May for a second tenure at the club.

“Very well,” the 26-year-old replied when Madrid’s official channel asked how he felt, sitting on a ball and smiling.

“[I’m] getting to know the new manager, the new players and working really hard. He wants me to be just as I’ve always been: happy, positive and playing. We all finished completely dead on our feet.”

Vinicius Jr: Will Real Madrid forward join Arsenal?

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta smiled broadly but dodged the question when he was repeatedly asked about Vinicius Junior after his side’s friendly win at Girona on Saturday.

Mourinho voiced worries over the lack of training time he will have with key senior players including Vinicius Junior after his team’s draw with Fiorentina on the same day, saying he would “like to have three weeks” with him.

Vinicius Junior holds control over the situation, with his willingness to sign a new deal dictating whether the reigning Premier League champions could make him a statement signing.

Madrid’s enthusiastic coverage of Vinicius Junior’s return perhaps emphasise that the 15-time European champions are expecting him to stay.

The club have posted footage of both of Vinicius Junior’s first sessions preparing for the 2026/27 season, titling the second “Vini Jr is back!” in capital letters.

Vinicius Junior: What Arsenal said

Arteta said Arsenal are “very active, trying to improve and evolve the team”. “That’s clear,” added the Spaniard.

“We expect to have movements in the next few weeks because we want to get better, like anybody else.

“You can just see the transfer market and our opponents and what they are doing. We are very ambitious with what we want to do.

“The margins are very small and if we want to get better, the level is going to increase. We need to increase the competition internally.

“We need to make sure that we identify the things we don’t have in the team to have bigger margins. That’s the way we have to think.

“We have even more responsibility and ambition than before. We know what is ahead; we know the qualities and capacity we have to compete with any team, but we need to prove that we belong at this level [of champions] now.”

Vinicius Jr stats: Best FIFA, La Liga, Champions League

Signed from Flamengo for a reported fee of around £39.4 million in 2018, Vinicius Junior’s individual honours include the 2023/24 Champions League Player of the Season award and the 2024 Best FIFA Men’s Player honour.

He was the Ballon d’Or runner up to Rodri in the same year. Here’s a look at the trophies Vinicius Junior has won with Madrid.

Real Madrid schedule: When does Vinicius Junior’s season start?

Madrid’s competitive season starts away to Espanyol on August 22 (20:30 BST). Arsenal kick off a day earlier at home to Coventry City (20:00).