According to reports, Manchester City has reportedly shifted their focus towards Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior, after suffering a huge setback in their pursuit of Borussia Dortmund sensation Erling Haaland, as per the Spanish outlet El Nacional.
Vinicius, 21, has been firing on all cylinders this season accumulating 15 goals and 10 assists in 28 appearances for the Los Blancos across all competitions. The Brazilian has been sensational alongside Karim Benzema with the star duo causing absolute mayhem in the opposition’s half.
The Norwegian has been incredible ever since he arrived at the Signal Iduna Park, this season has been nothing different with the 21-year-old scoring 21 goals and 10 assists in 19 appearances for the Schwarz Gelben.
Guardiola seems to have seen this coming a long way as he has been proactive with his approach in signing a perfect number nine. The likes of Dusan Vlahovic, Mikel Oyarzabal, Patrik Schick have been shortlisted. Vinicius’ sizzling form has grabbed the eyeballs across all the corners and Pep is not oblivious to the striker’s performances this season.
Manchester City hasn’t been able to bring in a successor to Sergio Aguero after the Argentine striker parted ways with the Skyblues in the previous summer. Ferran’s departure to Xavi’s Barcelona only exacerbated things for Guardiola with only a handful of forwards left in the City ranks.
While Vinicius is naturally a winger, his goal-scoring instincts have been close to some of the best in the business. Having said that, Pep’s interest in the Brazilian suggests that he has learned his lessons from the previous summer window, where City did not even consider any alternatives to Harry Kane this past summer window, eventually being left with nothing once the transfer talks regarding the Englishman fell off.
Nevertheless, the 21-year-old Brazilian is also being considered as a replacement to Raheem Sterling, with reports emerging from Spanish outlet SPORT claiming the Englishman’s desire to leave the club. Moreover, Haaland has also been tipped to move to Spain next summer.
In my opinion, Vinicius’ move to Manchester City is not even a possibility with Carlo Ancelotti unlikely to let go of one of his most consistent performers this season. The idea at Real Madrid is to form a frontline with the likes of Vinicius, Mbappe, and Benzema.