Arsenal are considering making a surprise deal to recruit Vinicius Junior from Real Madrid.
According to British media, the "Gunners" have made exploratory moves about the possibility of recruiting the Brazilian international, who only has one year left on his contract with the Santiago Bernabeu club.
The deal is currently only in the preliminary stage, as coach Mikel Arteta wants to bring in a world-class star to continue upgrading the squad after the first Premier League title after more than two decades.
Vinicius scored 22 goals for Real Madrid last season and scored 4 more goals for the Brazilian national team at the 2026 World Cup. In addition to Vinicius, Arsenal is also monitoring Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig) and Bradley Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain).
Earlier this week, Arsenal strengthened their attack with a 34 million pound contract named Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge.
Morgan Rogers was also on the target list of the Emirates club. However, Arsenal did not agree to spend more than 80 million pounds for the England international, before Chelsea broke the English football transfer record with a fee of 117 million pounds to own this player.
Vinicius's future at Real Madrid is becoming unpredictable after Jose Mourinho returns to lead the team. The Bernabeu club is said to be able to consider selling the Brazilian star to collect the transfer fee, instead of facing the risk of losing everything when the contract expires after one year.
Mourinho, who just signed a 3-year contract with Real Madrid, was controversial with his statements after Vinicius accused Gianluca Prestianni of racism in the match between Real Madrid and Benfica in the Champions League in February.
At that time, Mourinho - Benfica coach - said that "something always happens" in matches with Vinicius participating. Later, Prestianni was suspended for 6 matches for admitting to using homophobic language aimed at the Brazilian player.
In the opposite direction, The Gunners continue to operate strongly in the transfer market. After Christos Tzolis, the London team has officially signed Piero Hincapie after a loan period, and also recruited goalkeeper Illan Meslier on a free transfer from Leeds United.
In addition, Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United is also in Arsenal's sights. After the 1-1 draw between Newcastle and Gateshead, coach Eddie Howe affirmed that he does not want to part ways with important players of the team.
I talked to Bruno as always. He is a wonderful person and we always have positive exchanges before, during and after the World Cup. I don't know what Bruno's future will be like. That's not what I decided and I didn't participate in those negotiations" - the British strategist shared.
If Arsenal is really determined to pursue Vinicius, this will definitely be one of the most notable deals in the summer transfer window. However, the Emirates team will face many challenges, from the very large transfer fee to the remuneration for the Brazilian international.
