Arsenal supporters are fearing the worst after Vinicius Junior wiped all of his Instagram posts just hours after holding a fresh round of contract discussions with Real Madrid.
Vinicius has emerged as Arsenal’s number one target this summer, with Mikel Arteta understood to be ‘absolutely smitten’ with the idea of adding the Brazil international to his title-winning frontline.
The 26-year-old has entered into the final 12 months of his current deal at Madrid after talks over a possible renewal broke down in the wake of last year’s Club World Cup.
Arsenal, the newly crowned English champions, are reportedly prepared to make Vinicius the highest-paid player in Premier League history as they look to coax the attacker to north London.
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However, it’s been widely reported that Vinicius has ‘prioritised’ resolving his future at the Bernabeu ahead of the new season. Jose Mourinho, meanwhile, is believed to be vehemently opposed to the prospect of losing the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner.
According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Arsenal have raised their contract offer to Vinicius’ camp in the last few hours, with club chiefs ramping up their efforts to put the rumours and uncertainty to bed.
The proposal is said to ‘reflect Vinicius’ importance to the Madrid project’ and the player must now decide whether he wishes to renew or explore the opportunity presented by the Gunners.
But as reports of Vinicius’ showdown talks with Madrid broke, eagle-eyed fans began to realise that the attacker had, seemingly out of the blue, deleted his profile picture, his highlights and all of his main-grid posts on Instagram.
An Instagram story showing Vinicius’ Madrid team-mate Federico Valverde relaxing beside a swimming pool in Dubai is the only post that remains on the forward’s page at the time of writing.
While those more optimistic Arsenal fans are seeing Vinicius’ social media antics as a sign of possible good news around the corner, it appears most are preparing themselves for the worst.
‘Vinicius has deleted all the posts on Insta. Lord, please don’t do this to me,’ one Arsenal fan wrote on X.
Another bluntly tweeted: ‘It’s over.’
‘Removing all posts just to post his renewal contract,’ a third said along with a sad emoji.
Meanwhile, a Madrid supporter joked: ‘Give Arsenal fans five minutes and they’ll somehow turn this into proof he wants to leave Madrid.’
More to follow.