Arteta's Audacious Pitch: Arsenal Circle Vinicius Jr as Real Madrid Relationship Sours

Mikel Arteta is reportedly working the phones personally to convince Vinicius Junior that Arsenal, not Real Madrid, represent his best route forward, with the Brazilian's long term future at the Bernabeu increasingly uncertain.

It sounds fanciful on paper. Vinicius is a Champions League winner and one of the most electric attackers on the planet, contracted to the biggest club in the world. But relations between player and club have reportedly cooled, with question marks over his role, his temperament and his statistical output compared to the Ballon d'Or conversation he was once part of. Where there is smoke around a Real Madrid galactico, there is usually a queue of suitors, and Arsenal appear determined to make sure they are in that queue early.

Arteta's pitch is understood to centre on the project he has built at the Emirates: a genuine title challenger, a settled dressing room and a manager who has shown he can get the best from mercurial talents. Arsenal have spent the last two windows building serious attacking depth and adding a marquee forward of Vinicius's calibre would be the clearest statement yet that they mean to end their title drought.

The obvious caveat: this is transfer gossip at the speculative end of the spectrum. Real Madrid have given no indication they intend to sell a player of his profile, and prising him away from the Bernabeu would likely require a world record fee and no shortage of persuasion from Vinicius himself. For now this is a manager making his interest known rather than a deal anywhere close to happening, but in a market this quiet, that alone is enough to set tongues wagging.