Vinícius Jr. has had enough of Xabi Alonso. And he made it clear with his tantrum, accompanied by a string of insults directed at his coach when he was substituted on Sunday in the Clásico against Barça, the club match with the largest global audience.
There’s no going back. No matter how much the Real Madrid club tries to smooth things over, with the ever-docile and subservient Madrid press at their disposal, the relationship between Xabi Alonso and the Brazilian forward is broken. It’s beyond repair.
Vinícius’s desire to leave Madrid next summer… as long as the Basque coach remains in charge. The decision has been made.
The Brazilian feels belittled, despised, and devalued by his own coach, who treats him very differently from Kylian Mbappé, Florentino Pérez’s new favorite.
Like Vinícius, he hasn’t renewed his contract because his president doesn’t want to offer him a salary commensurate with his contributions; his contract expires in July 2027. This means the player holds all the negotiating power. And next summer, after the World Cup, Real Madrid won’t be able to set an exorbitant price tag with only a year left on his contract. In fact, they either sell him, or the player will threaten to leave for free in 2027.
In this situation, Vinícius, still furious, is already considering new destinations. The one that motivates him most, even more than the Premier League and Saudi petrodollars, is PSG, a club that has already won the Champions League.
He likes their style of play, which he believes maximizes his strengths, and he would be delighted to play under a charismatic and winning coach like Luis Enrique. The Brazilian understands that he wouldn’t have any problems getting along with Luis Enrique, known for cracking the whip against star players when he deems it necessary, but who is highly praised by his compatriot Neymar Jr. and even Leo Messi himself.
The rift in the Real Madrid dressing room is one for the ages. And, on Sunday, it became clear that not even positive results will be enough to calm things down. Xabi Alonso, however much Florentino Pérez supports him, has proven manifestly incapable of managing the day-to-day operations of a team where internal conflicts are constantly erupting, now reaching a public and global scale.
It’s the antithesis of what happened with a reliable manager like Carlo Ancelotti. And all of this is being watched from afar by PSG.
