Vinicius is still in Saudi Arabia's sights

Reports continue to emerge of Saudi Arabia's alleged interest in signing Vinicius Jr. for the Saudi football league. 

The figures being bandied about are dizzying and tempting for anyone, in this case Real Madrid's Brazilian international striker.

According to reports in England, via specialist journalist Ben Jacobs, the Saudi kingdom could spend up to 350 million euros to sign Vinicius, a dizzying figure even for Real Madrid, who put a 1 billion euro break clause on their star player after his latest renewal, after which he extended his contract until 2027. 

Until now, the most expensive transfer in international football came in 2017, when Paris Saint-Germain signed Brazilian Neymar from Barcelona for 222 million euros, an exhibition of financial muscle at the time by the State of Qatar, which owns the Parisian club.

Now, the financial muscle is being shown by Saudi Arabia, which is investing heavily in the field of sport to generate a sector with an important claim within its economic and industrial fabric. This move is part of the Saudi Arabian state's Vision 2030 strategy, which seeks to diversify national economic activity so as not to depend exclusively on its hydrocarbon sector, a major source of national financing. As part of this strategy, the Saudi kingdom is investing a lot of money and collaborating with many countries to develop different areas of its economy and national productive fabric in order to have different sources of wealth generation other than oil and gas.

The Saudi kingdom is allocating large sums of money to promote national football and the different teams that make up the Saudi national league have been incorporating in recent seasons real stars of world football to raise the profile of their national competition. As part of this strategy, various players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar himself have joined different teams such as Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal in exchange for very large sums of money, both for the clubs of origin and for the players themselves as an annual salary. 

Saudi dealmakers intent on signing Vini Jr and are prepared to spend a world-record €350m. Al-Ahli the club in mind, but Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal have also expressed interest. Nothing possible now, but Vini Jr a concrete and ambitious Saudi target.🇸🇦https://t.co/TcPrvJeIVf

— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) January 22, 2025

Now it could be the turn of Vinicius Jr. with an offer of 350 million for Real Madrid, and, surely, a large sum of money as a lure for the Brazilian international footballer in order to attract one of the biggest stars in world football at the moment.

Add to this the fact that the Madrid striker is only 24 years old and in his prime, unlike other international stars who headed to the Saudi league in the decline of their careers, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar.

This alleged new interest comes after Saudi Arabia made moves to try to sign Vinicius this past summer, although the Brazilian striker and Real Madrid have remained steadfast in maintaining a sporting relationship that is proving fruitful, as evidenced by recent titles, such as La Liga and the Champions League won by the white team last season. 

This season, Vinicius is also developing a good game and good numbers, with Real Madrid leading the Spanish league and still alive in the top European competition, in which the Brazilian striker has already reached seven goals, his best scoring record in the Champions League with half the season still to play.