A former Barcelona agent has revealed the inside story of how Vinicius Junior ended up at Real Madrid instead of the Camp Nou. André Cury claims a last-minute change of heart by the player’s representatives derailed the deal.
Vinicius Junior is undoubtedly one of the most decisive players in the world today. The Brazilian shines at Real Madrid and has already won two UEFA Champions League titles as a key figure, but when he emerged from Flamengo, he was very close to signing for Barcelona. Now, the real reason why he did not sign with the Catalan club and did so with the Merengue team has been revealed.
The goals, assists, luxuries, titles, and even the controversies he has experienced in Spain in recent times have all been with Carlo Ancelotti’s team. However, history could have been totally different since the Brazilian forward had everything arranged to join Barcelona. But… what happened and why didn’t it materialize?
Why yes to Real Madrid and no to Barcelona?
Every time a new gem flourishes that promises to become one of the best players in the world, the European giants rub shoulders to keep it. And if the project is even more hopeful, it is a fact that Barcelona and Real Madrid are among the candidates. Vini was no exception and that is exactly what happened.
André Cury is an important man in soccer and was instrumental in the transfers of different stars from Brazil. For example, he represented Neymar, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, and Deco, among others. In addition, the three most expensive sales in the history of South America passed through his hands: Estevao to Chelsea (63 million euros) and Vitor Roque and Ney to Barcelona (62 and 61 million, respectively).
The representative who was close to many Brazilian figures also worked for Barcelona in the market of his country. In that sense, Cury confessed that he himself carried out the negotiations to hire Vinicius, but left a phrase that made a lot of noise. “The family and the agents changed their minds in a not very transparent way,” he said in an interview with the Spanish media As.
Then, he extended his speech and added details that until now were totally unknown. “We met with Vinicius and his agents at their own request. We wanted to sign him when I was working for Barcelona. Everything was ready to sign. But soccer is like that…”, recalled André Cury about the operation that closed in 45 million euros.
He also referred to the Ballon d’Or scandal that occurred a few months ago. “For me it was for Real Madrid but for Bellingham. He is a midfielder who works defensively, but who contributed 28 goals and 17 assists in the season. If a midfielder didn’t win it, when will he? Modric won it and didn’t have his numbers. Rodri is a great player, like Bellingham and Vinicius,” he analyzed.
Then he compared Vini’s situation when he arrived at Real Madrid with Endrick’s current situation and said: “Vinicius started playing two and a half years after he arrived. Clubs have to be patient with such young players. Then you ask yourself why you make the investment if after three months you are going to want to give him to any team. They have to be patient.”
