Vinícius Júnior has been given time off by Real Madrid and won’t feature in Saturday’s LaLiga game with Athletic Club, sources have told ESPN, with the star forward set to report directly to Brazil national team duty for the World Cup.
Madrid‘s rivals Barcelona have already been crowned champions — with an 11-point lead ahead of the final round of matches this weekend — and with Madrid certain to finish second, there is nothing at stake in their game at the Bernabéu.
Madrid confirmed that Vinícius had not trained on Thursday “with the club’s permission, for personal reasons.”
Vinícius will return to work next week when the players called up by national team coach Carlo Ancelotti are due to report for duty at the CBF training centre in Granja Comary, Teresópolis, outside Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil’s players are due to arrive on May 27, four days before a friendly against Panama.
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They will then depart for the United States on June 1, with Brazil’s World Cup debut coming on June 13 against Morocco at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Vinícius concludes his season with 22 goals and 10 assists in 53 games, but was unable to help his team win a major trophy.
The first half of his season was dominated by problems with then coach Xabi Alonso — fired in January — but improved after the appointment of Álvaro Arbeloa.
Vinícius’ situation under Arbeloa’s sucessor, with José Mourinho having verbally agreed to take charge at the Bernabéu, remains to be seen.
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The forward has a contract for another year, until June 2027, and ESPN has reported that Vinícius’ camp only expect to discuss a new deal after the World Cup.
The parties came close to an agreement on a renewal in May 2025, but talks then stalled.
The club have remained positive about a deal although one source said the stance of Vinícius’ camp during negotiations had not impressed Madrid executives, with unhappiness at the way talks broke down in May last year.
