José Mourinho Clarifies Vinícius Júnior's Future

Real Madrid manager José Mourinho has sharply reacted to recent rumors surrounding Brazilian forward Vinícius Júnior's transfer and his future at the club. Lately, reports had surfaced that English Premier League side Arsenal were planning to take advantage of a pause in the Brazilian player's contract talks. Speaking to the press after the pre-season matches, the experienced specialist put an end to such speculations, according to Goal.com reports .

According to Goal.com, the fact that Vinícius's current contract is coming to an end and talks over extending the deal have stalled had given hope to the London club. It was rumored that Arsenal's management was even willing to change their traditional salary structure and agree to major financial terms to secure the player. However, Mourinho firmly stated that the player will soon return to the Spanish capital and join the squad.

Prepartions in Madrid and new players

According to Mourinho, the team's main squad is not yet fully assembled, as a number of key players are taking post-World Cup vacations. Nevertheless, several players are expected to join the general group in the coming days. Citing the club's official website, it is reported that on Monday, Vini Jr, Brahim Díaz, and Bernardo will arrive at the team's training camp.

Saturday's match against Fiorentina at the Wörthersee Stadion was José Mourinho's first test since returning to the helm of the Madrid club. The encounter ended in a 2:2 draw. Real Madrid had initially taken a two-goal lead thanks to goals from Endrick and academy youngster Alexis Siriya. However, the Italians managed to equalize through accurate strikes by Roberto Piccoli and Moise Kean.

The coach's thoughts on the match and the team's condition

In the post-match press conference, Mourinho analyzed his players' performance and noted that the team showed three different faces during the match. In his view, the start of the game was at a very high level, and the Madrid side could have taken a commanding lead. In the second half, however, the pressure from the physically superior Italian side began to tell.

“I liked everything. On the pitch, we saw three different Real Madrids: full of energy, tired, and extremely tired,” the source quotes Mourinho as saying. The specialist made no secret of his satisfaction that, despite fatigue towards the end of the game, the players showed character and maintained control on the pitch.