Arteta assistant confirms Vinicius Jr pursuit as Arsenal 'secret' revealed

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Tom Weber | Writer

Arsenal assistant Miguel Molina has confirmed that Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr was an option for the club this summer.

The Gunners went into the previous transfer window with the objective of signing a marquee left-winger amid uncertainty over the futures of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, both of whom were ultimately sold.

Surprisingly, Arsenal ended the window without achieving their goal, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Several names were considered and ultimately discarded, either due to their cost (Bradley Barcola) or concerns over their suitability ot Mikel Arteta's style and the Premier League (Malick Fofana).

One player for whom the Premier League champions would have been prepared to break the bank, though, was Vinicius Jr. The Brazil international emerged as a target due to his contract standoff with Real Madrid.

The club had been trying for months to extend his deal, but the player's demands - reportedly €30 million per season - meant that coming to an agreement proved difficult. As the summer progressed, it became clear that something had to give.

Vinicius Jr pursuit confirmed

The 26-year-old only had a year left on his previous terms, so Real Madrid had to reluctantly open up to the possibility of cashing in on him should no common ground be found before the end of the window.

This piqued the interest of Arsenal, but it was in vain. Vinicius ultimately decided to continue at Real Madrid after agreeing to lower his demands. He signed a new six-year contract and is believed to earn roughly €20m net annually now.

This was a significant blow to Arsenal, and it reportedly came as a surprise to Real Madrid's players, who believed that a move to North London was a "foregone conclusion."

Real Madrid's decision to extend Vinicius' contract has since come under scrutiny, with the Brazilian having thus far failed to justify his raise. He has massively struggled in the early stages of this season and is said to be "suffering."

One of the many problems Real Madrid face is that their two marquee players - Vinicius and Kylian Mbappe - still step on each other's toes and occupy the same spaces even after two years of playing together.

Parting with the Brazil international in the summer could have alleviated this problem. Instead, they opted to keep him and are once again left scratching their heads on how to solve this conundrum.

Reports in Spain have claimed that Vinicius was "closer to Arsenal than people think," and while this is certainly up for debate, there is no question that the North London giants' interest was genuine and very advanced.

This has now been confirmed by Miguel Molina, one of Arteta's assistant coaches. Speaking to La Tribu, he said: "Yes, of course. Obviously, I can’t stray from the facts, but he was a name that was on the table, yes."

He didn't provide more information, but this confirmation alone is illustrative of Arsenal's newfound ambition in the transfer market. Besides Vinicius, Molina also spoke about Arteta, who is set to commit his future to the club until 2030.

Revealing the Premier League winner's "secret" to success, Molina pointed to Arteta's work ethic. "He’s the first to arrive, the last to leave. He’s very intense, a super demanding guy," the 33-year-old explained.

"His best quality is that he’s able to bring out the best in the people around him, both the players and the staff, because ultimately he’s the greatest example of hard work and quality in that work."

Arteta has created an exceptional team spirit at Arsenal. "It’s a squad that has a strong sense of what it means to be a team, what camaraderie is, what it means to be a family, understanding that the collective comes before anything else," Molina added.