‘Agent’ Vinicius Jr Reveals How He Helped Sign Two Real Madrid Galacticos

Vinicius Jr’s insight into the inner workings of Real Madrid’s business shows how he has been indoctrinated by Florentino Pérez’s ideals.

Vinicius Junior (center) played the role of agent for Real Madrid. | Diego Souto/Getty Images

Vinicius Junior has revealed that he personally reached out to both Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham to “act as [their] agent” before they joined Real Madrid.

Bellingham would arrive in the Spanish capital in 2023 for the princely sum of €103 million ($111 million at the time) after flirting with a move to Liverpool for much of the window. Mbappé’s arrival 12 months later came after several summers of fanciful whispers which were finally put to bed once he ran down his contract at Paris Saint-Germain.

During this extensive courting period, Vinicius Jr was a fixture in Mbappé’s DMs. “Every summer I would write to him: ‘When are you coming?’ I acted as his agent,” he told Ibai Llanos during an extensive interview this week. “I did the same with Bellingham.”

Vinicius Jr’s reasoning was simple: “I want to play with the best to have a better chance of winning.” Yet, it’s not always so straightforward.

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Vinicius Jr Is Beholden to the Galáctico Ideal

Kylian Mbappé (left) and Vinicius Junior are the keys to victory for Real Madrid. | Diego Souto/Getty Images

Vinicius Jr’s mindset—more individual quality will always lead to a better team—is the exact type of flawed thinking which has dogged both of Florentino Pérez’s tenures as Real Madrid president. After elbowing his way to the top of the club’s hierarchy at the turn of the millennium with a campaign underpinned by his promise to sign Luís Figo, Pérez set about adding one of the world’s best players to his roster each summer.

Figo and Zinedine Zidane were soon joined by Ronaldo before David Beckham’s arrival in 2003 irrevocably skewed the balance of the team. To accommodate the Manchester United academy graduate’s wages, Pérez sold key defensive midfielder Claude Makélélé. “Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?” Zidane quipped. Madrid would win just one Spanish Super Cup over the next three seasons before Pérez lost his role in 2006.

Upon his return to the helm in 2009, the engineering magnate set about constructing another set of Galácticos. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Karim Benzema would represent the first wave before Madrid once again got rid of their engine in 2014, shipping off the indefatigable Ángel Di María for the far less industrious and effective James Rodríguez. Another trophy drought followed.

Mbappé’s arrival threatens to be the latest unnecessary paint job applied by Pérez. Fresh from winning a rare league and Champions League double in 2024 with an orthodox (if unfashionable) striker in the form of Joselu for the attack to pivot around, Madrid promptly snapped up the roving Frenchman.

While Mbappé’s staggering goal record suggests that he has thrived on a personal level, the team has failed to repeat their recent successes—and both Carlo Ancelotti and Xabi Alonso have paid the price with their jobs.

Vinicius Junior, in particular, seems to have suffered from the transfer that he pushed so hard for. With Mbappé naturally drifting to the left wing he typically occupies, the pair have only shown sporadic bursts of fluency. In fact, across the last two-and-a-half years, Vinicius Jr’s goal rate has plummeted from roughly one every 155 minutes without Mbappé on the pitch compared to a ratio of one every 223 with the Frenchman in tow.

Ironically, their relationship away from the Bernabéu is rampant. Mbappé is part of Vinicius Jr’s closest confidants in the dressing room, along with the French pairing of Eduardo Camavinga and Ferland Mendy. “We spend more time together than with our families,” the Brazilian reflected. “We have to have a good relationship.” If only they could spend some of that time working out how to play together.

Statistic Since 2023	With Mbappé	Without Mbappé
Minutes	5,564	4,801
Goals	25	31
Mins per Goal	222.6	154.9
Assists	26	15
Mins per Assist	214	320.1

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Who’s Next on Vinicius Jr’s List?

Rodri (left) and Vinicius Junior would have plenty to talk about. | FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images

Should Vinicius Jr continue to play the role of agent, a defensively minded midfielder with the ability to control the tempo of the game—a belated replacement for Toni Kroos—must be top of his list.

There are a glut of intriguing candidates from across the continent, with the likes of Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller or former Real Madrid academy graduate Chema Andrés offering interesting options. However, should Vinicius Jr wish to fulfill his fondness for star names, there is one obvious—and awkward—call to be made.

Rodri has been on Real Madrid’s radar for years. A trophy-laden Spain international with the authority to dictate play at the highest echelons of the game, his acquisition would be expensive but potentially worth it. Unfortunately, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner just so happened to be the focus of Vinicius Jr’s ire when he was controversially beaten to that individual award.

The embittered Brazilian and every Real Madrid delegate scheduled to attend the ceremony in Paris boycotted the event in protest. “Well, it’s a decision of individuals or clubs in general to decide what to do,” Rodri would later reflect. “I cannot respect the decision, I always said I wouldn’t do it in the same way.”

A year and a half on, those tensions must surely have faded. Vinicius Jr would certainly hope so while waiting on the other end of the line.

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