Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring a goal. (Reuters)Brazilian and Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Junior has adopted Spanish citizenship, thus providing a major boost to Los Blancos future transfer business.
Official Announcement#RealMadrid
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) September 5, 2022
The 22-year-old winger, who has now entered his fifth full season as a Real Madrid player, has won the Champions League with the club after Madrid paid £40.5m to lure him from Flamengo in 2018.
His move helps Madrid because, under La Liga rules, a can only possess five non-EU players in their squad, as well as having a maximum of three included in a matchday team.
Earlier, the trio of Vinicius, Eder Militao, and Rodrygo would occupy those three spots. This in turn hampered Madrid’s business in the summer transfer window.
However, with Vini Jr’s decision, Madrid now has a non-EU spot freed up.
Official. Vinícius Junior has received Spanish passport, one day after the closure of transfer market. 🚨⚪️ #RealMadrid
Important news for Real Madrid as they now have one non-EU spot free on the market — Gabriel Jesus deal collapsed in June because of that issue. pic.twitter.com/VQlMAhq3dy
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 5, 2022
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“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,” a statement read.