‘There’s No Going Back’—Seven Players Whose Real Madrid Exits Vinicius Jr Can Learn From

The Vinícius Jr contract saga is approaching its conclusion, one way or another.

After returning from a break following his World Cup exploits, the Brazilian superstar has held new talks with the club as they attempt to finally thrash out a new deal that will extend his stay beyond next summer.

Reports suggest this will be the final summit between player and club, who have been at an impasse since negotiations stalled last year, with the two sides unable to find a middle a ground in salary expectations.

Publicly, Vinícius Jr has always maintained his loyalty to Madrid, but that may be tested by a ‘take it or leave it’ offer that, while improved, still falls short of the figures floated around earlier this summer. Arsenal are watching developments very closely.

It would be a blockbuster, news-cycle shattering move from the 26-year-old superstar to turn down Madrid and effectively bring and end to his time at the world’s biggest club.

One former Real Madrid star Predrag Mijatović has counselled Vinícius against doing exactly that, recounting to Cadena Ser how he came to regret walking out on Los Blancos after a disagreement back in 1999.

“What have I done with my life? I was in football paradise,” the 1997 Ballon d’Or runner-up recalled thinking.

“When you want to come back, there's no going back, obviously,”

But is life after Madrid all doom and gloom? Here are seven stars who ended up leaving the club in their prime years and what happened next.

1. Predrag Mijatović (1999)

Pedrag Mijatović — Mijatović was a major star of the 90s. | Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

Signed from Valencia in 1996, the Yugoslavia international was a key player in the 1996–97 La Liga title triumph before scoring the winner in the Champions League final—Madrid’s first European Cup in over 30 years—the following season.

However, after falling out with manager John Toshack, the striker decided to leave the club for Fiorentina after just three seasons.

The forward later admitted to regretting the decision, saying: “It’s better to be second choice at Real Madrid than to be number one at any other team in the world, I’m telling you.”

2. Claude Makélélé (2003)

Claude Makélélé (right) battles with Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy. — Makélélé was the unsung hero of Real Madrid’s side at the turn of the century. | IMAGO / BSR Agency

Perhaps the most infamous transfer decision in Madrid history, defensive midfielder Makélélé was sold to Chelsea in the summer of 2003 after falling out with president Florentino Pérez over a request for an improved contract.

After a bitter spat, Pérez insulted the French star with the parting words: “Younger players will arrive who will cause Makélélé to be forgotten.”

The power play from the president proved an enormous miscalculation. Madrid floundered with a midfield anchor and failed to win a major trophy for four years.

Makélélé, meanwhile, went from strength to strength in England, twice winning the Premier League as he almost single-handedly made holding midfielders cool.

3. Robinho (2008)

Signed as a last roll of the dice by Pérez as the first Galácticos era came crashing down, the young Brazilian was temperamental but productive in two title-winning seasons at the Bernabéu.

However, he became noisily disgruntled by a perceived lack of game-time coupled with then president Ramon Calderón’s barely disguised plans to use him in a plot to sign Cristiano Ronaldo.

Robinho pushed hard to leave and was eventually sold to Manchester City as the new regime’s first superstar signing.

However, he had moved on again within a year and a half as work rate and attitude problems followed him throughout what became an itinerant career that never matched the early hype.

In 2017, he was convicted of sexual assault and handed a nine-year prison sentence.

4. Gonzalo Higuaín (2013)

“You suffer when you don’t get to play for some time, as you do when you have to share games with Karim Benzema,” Higuaín revealed after leaving Madrid for Napoli in the summer of 2013.

The forward scored an impressive 121 goals in 264 games for Los Blancos, but could never fully make himself the de facto first choice No.9 at the club as he was forced to time-share with Benzema.

At Napoli, he was very much the main man, scoring 91 times in 146 games—including 38 in his final season.

The Argentina International went on to win three Serie A titles after a controversy-courting move to Juventus as he established himself as one of the world’s most prolific finishers.

Still, given the eventual exploits of Benzema, it was hard for Madrid fans to believe their club had bet on the wrong horse.

5. Mesut Özil (2013)

Just 24 years old at the time of his exit to Arsenal and established as one of Europe’s top playmakers, Özil’s departure didn’t sit well with many who thought the German had more to give at Real Madrid.

Özil criticized the decision makers at the Bernabéu for his exit as he discussed his motivations for wanting to a transfer, after a failed contract re-negotiation with Pérez.

“At the weekend, I was certain I would stay at Real Madrid but afterwards I realized I did not have the faith from the coach or the bosses. I am a player who needs this faith and that is what I have felt from Arsenal, which is why I have joined,” he said, pointedly.

Özil became an icon at Arsenal where he won three FA Cups, though he never tasted league or European glory. Madrid, meanwhile, would transition to a new-look midfield without a No.10, leading to four Champions League titles in five years.

6. Ángel Di María (2014)

Angel Di Maria — Ángel Di Maria’s exit after the Champions League final came as a surprise. | Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

A few weeks after winning the Man of the Match award in the 2014 Champions League final, Di María had left Real Madrid for Manchester United in a then British transfer record deal.

The Argentina star was another who fell foul of Pérez’s hardline contract negotiation tactics, while breakout World Cup star James Rodríguez was signed as a replacement.

Later Di María told The Players’ Tribune that Madrid had ruthlessly forced him to miss the World Cup final in order to protect their asset ahead of a sale, as he was playing through pain at the time.

While his move to United proved a bust, Di María re-established himself as one of the sport’s best attacking players while at Paris Saint-Germain where he won a raft of titles and remains the club’s all-time top assist maker.

He later got another crack at the World Cup final, scoring against France in Qatar 2022.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo (2018)

In the post-match celebrations of the 2018 Champions League final win, Ronaldo dropped a bombshell while speaking to reporters on the pitch in Kyiv.

“It has been very nice playing for Real Madrid,” he said.

The club’s all-time top scorer, five-time Ballon d’Or winner and Champions League top scorer for six consecutive seasons was calling time on his tenure in Madrid.

Well over 30 and demanding another bumper contract extension, Pérez had decided to cash in on the forward who moved to Juventus that summer for €100 million.

The Portuguese superstar continued to score goals at a freakish rate winning two Serie A titles along the way, but the heights he’d reached at Madrid had gone.

Add us as a preferred source on Google