Paris Saint-Germain could perhaps be a future transfer option for Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior, according to French football expert Jonathan Johnson.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for the latest edition of his Daily Briefing column, Johnson explained that he could see Vinicius being the kind of player PSG would be interested in, even if nothing is happening for the moment.
The situation could change, however, as it seems we’re heading towards Kylian Mbappe moving to Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer, meaning it could become harder for Carlo Ancelotti to fit Vinicius into his starting line up.
Mbappe and Vinicius both tend to perform best on the left-hand side of a front three, and it remains to be seen if there’ll be a way to get both of them into the same team.
If this leads to any tension at the Bernabeu, Johnson admits he could see Vinicius moving on, with PSG perhaps an option due to their history of signing top Brazilian players.
Vinicius transfer: Johnson explains why future PSG move can’t be ruled out
“There have been some reports linking Vinicius Junior with PSG and I’ve always said since the beginning that I could see there being a logical way for Real Madrid and PSG to potentially do business for Mbappe (while he was under contract) by essentially swapping Vinicius and Mbappe to take money out of the equation,” Johnson said.
“I don’t think that’s Real Madrid’s intention for the moment, however, I think Los Blancos want to combine the two players. It could be at some point, though, because of the position they both play on the pitch, that some kind of clash becomes inevitable. There won’t necessarily be tension, but there might be a conflict of interests between the two as they’ll both want the same spot in the starting XI.”
He added: “If Vinicius were to become available at any point, I think PSG would be very interested, but I don’t think they’d want him in a scenario where they’d have to pay for Vinicius, having lost Mbappe on a free transfer. I think PSG would prefer an exchange, but obviously at this moment in time that doesn’t look likely with Mbappe’s contract expiring, and it doesn’t seem like Vini Jr’s star is on the wane at Real Madrid, certainly not enough for him to be used in an exchange deal.
“At the same time, there might be a moment when Vinicius might consider a move – we know his agent has spoken about the Premier League in the past – so he could perhaps be open to becoming a star name in PSG, a club that has historically had great success with Brazilian players.
“I don’t think it’s an unrealistic prospect at some point in the future, but for the moment nothing is happening – it doesn’t seem like the scenario is going to open itself up. That could change, but I don’t think this one is on the cards at all imminently.”