Jose Mourinho directly intervenes as Arsenal target Vinicius Junior transfer

Arsenal are reported to be interested in acquiring the signature of Vinicius Junior; however, the new Real Madrid boss is set to not allow that to happen.

The Portuguese manager has begun his work as Real Madrid boss, as he has been putting some of his squad through their paces in pre-season and by acquiring some players on the transfer market.

Mourinho’s task this season is simple: stop Barcelona from winning their third straight La Liga title by winning the Spanish top flight with Real Madrid for the 37th time, while also being competitive in the latter stages of the Champions League.

However, to achieve this, the Real Madrid manager will need the best squad possible, and at present that does include Brazilian Vinicius Junior.

Now, it has been reported by the Telegraph that sources have indicated that Mourinho has made it clear to the Real hierarchy that he wants all his core squad players in situ and out of the conversation when it comes to sales.

The two-time Champions League-winning manager is adamant that he wants Vinícius, Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham in his team.

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This revelation may have put the brakes on Arsenal attempting to make a deal with Los Blancos for the Real Madrid star, as if the Spanish giants and Mourinho are not willing to sell, then he will not be moving to North London.

Arsenal’s interest in Vinicius will give some encouragement to fans that the club are responding to Mikel Arteta’s appeal for a decisive summer to help improve the squad to be able to retain their Premier League crown while going one better in the Champions League after they lost the final to PSG last season.

To this point in the window, they have acquired Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge for £34 million and Illan Meslier on a free transfer after his contract expired with Leeds United at the end of last season.

The Gunners have also shown their interest in bringing Bruno Guimaraes to the club; however, they are yet to reach an agreement with Newcastle for the Brazilian as the Magpies value the midfielder at £100 million, but Arsenal do not appear willing to pay this for the player.

Bruno Guimaraes in action for Brazil vs Scotland at the 2026 World Cup.

Real Madrid’s summer transfer dealings

It has been a busy summer transfer window for Real Madrid, as Mourinho has been busy building his squad to challenge for silverware.

This has seen Marc Cucurella, Ibrahima Konate and Bernardo Silva all depart clubs in the Premier League to join Los Blancos, while Denzel Dumfries joined the club from Inter Milan.

Meanwhile, two stalwarts of the Real Madrid team have left in the shape of Dani Carvajal and David Alaba, along with Dani Ceballos, who agreed to a mutual termination of his contract, while Fran García joined Real Betis.