Real Madrid News
Official: Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior receives Spanish citizenship
Real Madrid have officially confirmed that Vinicius Junior has finally received his Spanish citizenship earlier this month, on September 2, just a day after the summer transfer window closed.
The 22-year-old Brazilian international has been with the club since 2018 and was occupying one of the three Non-EU spots in the squad as he was not recognised as a Spanish national.
However, the process for obtaining citizenship had been in process for the past few months now and Vinicius has now been granted the same.
“Real Madrid CF announces that our Brazilian player Vinicius Junior swore to the Spanish Constitution last Friday, September 2, so from that moment he also has Spanish nationality,” the club’s official statement said.
This means that one of the three non-EU spots in the Real Madrid first-team roster has been freed up, with Rodrygo Goes and Eder Militao holding the remaining two slots. The process is already underway for the Brazilian duo to obtain their Spanish passports as well.
With Vinicius now receiving his Spanish citizenship, Real Madrid can call Vinicius Tobias to feature in La Liga matches. The Brazilian had not been part of the squad due to his non-EU status but this development frees up the spot for the right-back to feature in the league.
Of course, there will be a hint of disappointment at the timing of Vinicius’ citizenship news. Real Madrid had shown serious interest in Gabriel Jesus this past summer and had tried to sign him from Manchester City.
However, the transfer collapsed as Los Blancos did not have a free non-EU spot in the squad and the striker ended up joining Arsenal instead, where he is already thriving.
Since joining Real Madrid in 2018 from Flamengo, Vinicius has grown into one of the best attacking prospects in the game of football. The 22-year-old has 175 appearances for the club in which he has netted 39 goals and set up 45 more.
Vinicius enjoyed his best campaign in 2021/22 and is aiming to beat his achievements from that season in the current term.
Arda Guler’s Real Madrid stint has not gotten off to the start he would have hoped to have given the expectation that preceded the transfer.
Having joined in the summer after Real Madrid outbid their competition to win him over from Fenerbahce for a 20-million-euro fee, buzz was high as the winger was expected to slot into the team quite seamlessly, albeit on a rotational basis.
Unfortunately for the 18-year-old, he has been constantly marred by injuries since completing the move.
Reports have stated that after Guler picked up his third injury since his move, Real Madrid have been concerned and want to take things slow with the player to ensure he is fit as soon as possible after an injury to his quadriceps this time.
The Turk is yet to make his competitive debut for the club, and Real Madrid even sacked their medical chief in November, in light of their injury crises since the beginning of the season.
No loan deal for Guler
However, according to Fabrizio Romano in a recent YouTube video, he states that Madrid maintain full trust and patience in the youngster.
Despite his bad luck with injuries, the latest of which he is scheduled to return from after Christmas, the Galacticos have no intention of loaning out Guler to Turkish clubs despite lots of speculation of them doing so of late.
Romano states that Madrid remain firm on not shaking things up too much with the squad, and they want to keep their roster stable, including Arda Guler.
They want to extend their full support and protection to the player as he aims to return to full fitness and finally make his bow for Madrid either by the end of this month or in 2024.
