Real Madrid agreed a deal with Flamengo for Vinícius Júnior in May 2017 and a year later, the forward moved to the Spanish capital club.
The Brazilian could make his first appearance in the El Clasico when the his side face Barcelona in the Copa del Rey clash at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.
Today’s edition of Mundo Deportivo claims the teenager could have been representing the La Liga winners if not for the ‘betrayal’ from his camp.
André Cury kept a close watch on the attacker for three years and when he was eligible to sign a professional contract, Pep Segura travelled to Brazil on several occasions to explain the club’s plans for him.
In April 2017, Vinícius’ parents and his uncle were in attendance to watch a Blaugrana fixture and prior to their visit, they had agreed a €30m deal for the youngster to join the Spanish champions.
During their time in Spain, the player’s agents Federico Pena and Estéfano Ávila made a quick trip to Madrid and after returning to Barcelona, the representatives verbally agreed a deal with Barca’s then director Raül Sanllehí for Vinícius and the latter returned to South America.
After returning to Brazil, Pena called Cury to explain that Los Blancos are interested in his client, which resulted in maximum tension between the two.
The leaders of the Champions League winners made a trip to Rio de Janeiro after which Vinícius signed a new contract at Flamengo, where his release clause went up from €30m to €45m.
Florentino Pérez was willing to pay the additional €15m so that he didn’t end up losing another talent to Barcelona like he did with Neymar.
Vinícius’ decision to join Real Madrid is viewed by Barcelona as a betrayal by his agents.
Mundo mentions that the entire operation cost Real Madrid €61m because they had to pay €8m commission to the agents and €8m as a signing on bonus for Vinícius.
The final cost of the deal is double what Barcelona had initially agreed for the transfer, which never took shape.
Vinícius is expected to feature in the cup competition and it should be seen if he can have an impact on the outcome of the match.
