Real Madrid News
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. set to receive another award
After bagging the Socrates Award at the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony last night, Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr, who recently signed a new extension until 2027, is all set to receive another honour of being the Best Player in La Liga in the Men’s category, this time by the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), reports Mundo Deportivo.
The outlet claims that this award will be presented to him on Monday, November 6. Meanwhile, in the women’s category, another Real Madrid player, Caroline Weir, will be adjudged with the award.
AFE celebrating the achievements
The AFE is gearing up to host its second such awards ceremony, celebrating outstanding players across all tiers of Spanish football, spanning from the First Division to the Third Federation.
This upcoming edition promises to be even more memorable as it will feature the introduction of three special accolades: the Manolo Esteo Award, the AFE Foundation Award, and the Sports Career Award.
Additionally, in comparison to the previous year, distinctions will also be bestowed upon top goal-scorers (the Quini Award and Natalia Pablos Award) as well as the goalkeepers with the lowest number of goals conceded (the Arconada Award and the Carmen Arce ‘Kubalita’ Award) within the non-professional categories of national football.
Vinicius, a perfect example
The Socrates Award Vinicius won last night happens to be a one-of-a-kind honour. Established in 2022, this award acknowledges the outstanding humanitarian endeavours of accomplished football players.
As for Vinicius, his unwavering commitment to improving society is evident in his significant contributions. In 2022, he allocated €335,000 to support the Vini Jr Institute, an educational application tailored to aid disadvantaged students back in his home country.
All this just happens to be the tip of the iceberg and as we look ahead to 2024, his dedication is poised to reach new heights, with a remarkable pledge of €2.5 million after donating a whopping €1 million in 2023.
Real Madrid’s main goal heading into the summer transfer window was to wrap up the signing of Jude Bellingham amid massive interest from Premier League giants such as Liverpool, Manchester City, and Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola’s City, especially, were ready to match and increase any salary Madrid offered, and were going strongly into the bidding war.
Eventually, Bellingham decided to join Madrid after they reached an agreement with Borussia Dortmund for €3 million.
However, following this, los blancos had to improvise a fair bit as Karim Benzema decided to leave the club to join Al-Ittihad on a free transfer. They were expecting him to continue for another season, at least, and it stumped their plans in the market.
In the next few weeks, Madrid chased forwards, and ended up signing Joselu, Brahim Diaz, and a certain Arda Guler, who was close to Barcelona before eventually ending up at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Unfortunately for Madrid, he is yet to play a single minute for the club after picking up a serious injury in pre-season. Despite being on the bench for a couple of games, Guler suffered a relapse in training, and was sidelined again.
Now, reports from Yagiz Sabuncuoglu say that the Turkish international is close to returning to team training.
Guler has slowly, but surely, been recovering from his injury, and could take to the pitch for his first minutes with the club in the next few weeks as Madrid look for solutions after a month full of injuries.
With Vinicius Jr, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eder Militao, and Thibaut Courtois all out until early 2024, Madrid have relied on Castilla for reinforcements, but could do with Guler’s services in their forward line.
That said, Carlo Ancelotti and co. are expected to be extremely cautious when it comes to the Turkish international. The slightest spell of poor man-management here could make or break the youngster’s career.
