In today's transfer market, top clubs around Europe are willing to pay ridiculous transfer fees to secure the best footballing talents from around the world and one of those clubs is Real Madrid. The La Liga champions have spent millions and millions on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Isco and they have done so again this time for a 16-year-old by the name of Vinicius Junior.
Real Madrid reached a deal with Brazilian side Flamengo to sign the forward in a deal worth €46 million which would make him the second most expensive signing from the Brazilian league after Neymar. This deal would also make Vinicius worth almost €3 million for each year he's been on the planet.
Vinicius made only one appearance for the Flamengo senior team so far but his impressive performance for Brazil in the South American Under-17 Championship was one of the main reasons Real Madrid were so keen on him. The forward was the top goal scorer of the tournament and the player of the tournament but that still does not explain why Real Madrid had to pay so much for him.
Vinicius is definitely a special player and a future Real Madrid star but valuing a 16-year-old at €46 million is just ridiculous. In today's transfer market, any player under the age of 20 who is considered a top talent is automatically valued at around €30 million and this limits the number of clubs he could join as only a few clubs have that kind of money to spend and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola agrees.
"Real Madrid have bought a 16-year-old player for 46 million Euros, and you can imagine how the market is. Maybe we'll have a lot of players here, maybe not ... we'll see in the next few days. A Brazilian boy is going to play at Real Madrid for 46 million Euros - 16 years old - that's the market today," Marca quoted Guardiola as saying.
The transfer fee will definitely put a lot of pressure on Vinicius to continue to perform the way he is right now and hopefully he won't turn out to be one of those stars who was hyped so much only to fade away after a big money move.
Who is Vinicius Junior?
Vinicius has been under the spotlight since the age of 13 when he was called up for the Brazil Under-15 side. As he continued to impress through the youth ranks, he became the star of the 'Generation 2000' – a team of players born at the turn of the millennium who did not lose a match for three years, leading the side to the prestigious Copa Votorantim in 2015.
He continued to impress at the junior Campeonato Carioca where he was called the 'owner of the ball' because of how often he used to find the back of the net.
But it was at the Copa Sao Paulo, Brazil's most celebrated youth tournament, in January this year where Vinicius made the biggest impression as he competed with boys three years older than him. As a result he was compared to the likes of Rai, Rivaldo, Djalminha, Neymar, Lucas Moura and Gabriel Jesus.
Recently a Real Madrid coach described Vinicius as the type of talent that emerges "only once every 10 or 20 years." Apart from shining at the South American Under-17 Championship, Vinicius has won a number of trophies with the Flamengo youth team. He also won the South American Under-15 Football Championship, the BRICS U-17 Football Cup in 2016 where he was the top scorer.
Check out Vinicius Junior goals, skills and assist so far in his career
